HC stays auction of Oxford Development's property

FE Report | Published: September 02, 2019 23:07:58

The High Court on Monday stayed for three months the auction of mortgaged property of Oxford Development Ltd. by the National Housing Finance and Investment Limited, a non-banking financial institution (NBFI).
The auction process was scheduled to be held on the day as per Section 12 of the Artha Rin Adalat Ain, 2003.
The High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Khairul Alam passed the stay order after a hearing on two separate writ petitions filed by Managing Director of Oxford Development Ltd. Md Akbar Hossain Arif.
The court also issued a rule asking the respondents to explain in four weeks as to why the auction process initiated by the National Housing Finance and Investment Limited should not be declared illegal.
The Bangladesh Bank governor, the managing director of National Housing Finance and Investment Limited and its Motijheel Branch manager have been made respondents in the rule.
Advocate Salina Akter Chowdhury appeared for the Oxford Development Ltd.
According to the writ petitions, the Oxford Development received Tk 17 million in loans from the National Housing Finance and Investment Limited in 2013 and 2014. But the institution failed to pay the dues in time.
"On December 12, 2018, the Oxford Development applied to National Housing Finance and Investment Limited to reschedule the loans, but the company didn't response."
The lawyer for the petitioner said, "The auction process violated the petitioner's fundamental rights to hold property as guaranteed under the Constitution."
"For rescheduling the loan amount, the petitioner duly paid down a payment, but the Managing Director of National Housing Finance and Investment Limited without rescheduling the petitioner's loan amount published the auction notice, which is illegal," read the petition.
"The auction notice have been published by the National Housing Finance and Investment Limited without serving any notice or giving reasonable opportunity of being heard to the petitioner, which is a gross violation of the principle of natural justice," the petition also read.