Legal notice seeks steps to frame NPL guidelines

A legal notice has been served upon the government bodies concerned, including the Bangladesh Bank, drawing their attention to take initiatives to make guidelines on non-performing loans (NPLs).

Md Juwel Azad, a Supreme Court lawyer, served the notice on Sunday, calling upon the respondents to take steps within seven days of receiving the notification.

Otherwise, a writ petition would be filed with the High Court division of the Supreme Court, he added.

The finance ministry and the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) have also been included as respondents in the notice.

Azad also gave some suggestions in the notice to include in the guidelines.

He said, "The Artha Rin Adalat Act 2003 and the Negotiable Instrument Act 1881 need to be amended further, making it mandatory to take the borrower's fingerprints while taking out a loan. The process of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) should be flexible and mandatory."

"In the absence of such an action plan and guidelines, default loans are rising abnormally. Furthermore, defaulters should be debarred from using any sort of cunning device in the name of judicial review under Article 102 of the constitution," he further said.

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