Regulator goes for direct litigation in tribunal

The regulator moves to pave the way for direct filing of stock-related cases with the special tribunal on bourses to avert delays in trial.

To `expatiate` tribunal jurisdiction, officials said, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has finalised a draft of amendment to the Securities and Exchange Ordinance (SOE) 1969 under which the special tribunal on capital market was set up in July 2014.

As per existing legal provision, the special tribunal can only conduct trial of the cases transferred from other courts.

"The proposed amendment will go to parliament through vetting by the ministry concerned," said an official of the securities` regulator.

He said it was not possible to include some relevant provisions in the latest amendment as it was finalised and came into effect in a short span of time.

"The proposed amendment will save time of completing trials and verdicts alongside expanding the tribunal`s jurisdiction as per Code of Criminal Procedure."     

According to him, in the proposed amendment the regulator has also included six-month timeframe for completing judgment procedure along with the right of filing appeal with higher court against the tribunal verdict.

"As per constitutional right, anyone can go to the upper court against the tribunal verdict. Nevertheless, we have mentioned this provision in the proposed amendment," the BSEC said.

He said if the proposed amendment comes into effect, any authorised BSEC official can file case with the special tribunal against anyone for breach of securities rules.

"Only the securities` regulator will be able to file case with the tribunal. And the decision on filing case will be taken by the commission," the BSEC official said.

Asked about specific timeframe of submitting the draft amendment to the ministry, the official said the regulator is working to bring some other amendments.

"The draft will be sent to the ministry after completing the drafts of other proposed amendments," he added.

The special tribunal on capital market has almost been sitting idle since last May as there is no case to try.

The tribunal sources said a total of 24 cases, including some related to the 1996 stock-market scam, were transferred to the tribunal for trial.

On completion of trial, the tribunal delivered the verdicts in six cases while the High Court (HC) stayed the proceedings of 16 cases filed against some big businesses.

The remaining two were returned to the previous lower courts as trial of such cases was out of jurisdiction for the special tribunal.

On August 03, 2015, the tribunal in its maiden verdict jailed Mahbub Sarwar for two years as he was found guilty of manipulating stock prices through social networking sites in 2010.

Later, on August 31, 2015, the tribunal sentenced two directors of Chic Tex Limited to four years` jail in a 1996 stock-market-scam-related case.

On August 17, 2015, the tribunal handed down SM Nurul Islam, managing director of BD Welding, and Enayet Karim, editor of Weekly Industry, three years` imprisonment. They were found guilty of manipulating stock prices of BD Welding Electrodes.

On October 27, 2015, the tribunal acquitted Sattaruzzaman Shamim, the prime accused of a case of illegal business in placement share, as his involvement in the crime was not proved. In the same case, Nabiullah Nabi, who had died before the trial started, was also exonerated.