The bench of justices Farid Ahammad and Sheikh Hasan issued the rule after hearing a petition filed by National Credit and Commerce Bank Ltd (NCCBL) director Sheikh Abdul Monim.
Finance and commerce secretaries, SEC chairman, Bangladesh Bank governor, NCCBL managing director, registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, and Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges have been asked to explain their stance within four weeks.
Petitioner's lawyer Reaz Uddin said as per the SEC notification dated Nov 22 last year, directors of listed companies would lose their position unless they own up at least 2 percent of their companies' shares latest by May 22.
If the notice remains in force, petitioner Monim will lose his directorship of NCCBL, as he does not own 2 percent of the bank shares. He became director of NCCBL following the death of his wife Masuda Begum, who was also director of NCCBL, on Nov 2. After her death, her share was divided among her husband, mother and daughter, leaving Monim with less than 2 percent of the bank's shares.
"SEC cannot impose a condition on who can be in the position of director of a company based on owning of shares. It is the Companies Act and the Bank Company Act that determine who would be in the position of director. The acts do not talk of the specific condition. On the other hand, the Bangladesh Bank can relieve anyone of directorship in people's interest. So, the SEC procedure is illegal," said the petitioner's lawyer.
DSE on last Wednesday reminded managing directors and chief executives of the listed companies about their sponsor directors and directors buying the least quantity of shares of their companies by the May 22 deadline in line with the SEC directive.
The SEC directive says sponsor director of a company must own 30 percent of the company's shares and an individual director at least 2 percent.
Barrister Fida Kamal also participated in the hearing for petitioners while assistant attorney general Samarednra Nath stood for the government.
