The High Court has stayed the Ministry of Commerce’s decision to declare the post of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) President Ali Afzal vacant, after a Bangladesh Bank report identified him as a loan defaulter.

The High Court bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Fatema Anwar passed the order on Monday (21 September) following a writ petition filed by Ali.

Senior lawyer Shishir Manir confirmed the matter.

Earlier, on 14 September, the Ministry of Commerce’s Trade Organisation-2 branch informed REHAB’s senior vice-president of the decision in a letter.

The letter said that, according to a report from the Bangladesh Bank’s Credit Information Bureau (CIB), Ali was a loan defaulter as a director of a loan-defaulting company.

It said his post as REHAB president was therefore declared vacant under Section 23(1)(b) of the Trade Organisations Act 2022.

The notification was sent to relevant authorities, including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and REHAB, and published on the Ministry of Commerce website.

Ali was elected REHAB president on 18 April. Afzal, chairman of Glorious Lands and Developments, won the election from the Progressive Panel with 232 votes.

His closest rival, then outgoing president Wahiduzzaman of the ‘Housing Businessmen’s Unity Council’, received 193 votes.