HC rejects Evaly's stay plea on cheque dishonour

The High Court on Tuesday rejected an application of the controversial e-commerce platform Evaly Limited that sought a stay order on the proceedings of cheque dishonour cases filed against it.
An HC bench of Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury passed the order after hearing the petition.
Barristers AM Masum and Sayed Mahsib Hossain, who filed the winding-up petition on behalf of a defrauded Evaly customer Farhad Hossain, vehemently opposed the application during the hearing.
By filing the plea, Evaly chairman Shamima Nasrin and former CEO Mohammad Russel wanted to get away with their criminal liabilities while using the winding-up proceedings as a veil, said barrister Mahsib.
"However, we were able to draw the HC's attention and it accordingly rejected the Evaly application for staying all proceedings under section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument (NI) Act pending in all over the country against Shamima Nasrin and Russel…"
Barrister Shamim Ahmed Mehedi submitted the petition in March on behalf of the Evaly authorities as about 300 cheque-dishonour cases have so far been filed against Evaly, added the lawyer.
Evaly issued cheques to different entities and individuals in the course of their business. When the cheques were placed before the banks concerned, they were not honoured and were refused from being encashed.
As such, the victims had no other option but to file criminal cases against the Evaly management under section 138 of the NI Act to punish the offender.

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