People Have Right to Know Who The Bank Giving Loan To: HC

The High Court has directed the concerned authorities to publish the name of the person or institution and the letter of approval of the loan sanctioned by any bank or financial institution on the bank's website.

The court said that since bank money is public money, people have the right to know to which person or organization they are giving public money. Therefore, along with each loan sanction, the approval letter of the said loan sanction has been instructed to be published on the website of the concerned financial institution to inform the public.

Regarding the issue of 'no bank can file a check dishonor case', a single High Court Bench of Justice Md Ashraful Kamal has given directions in the full judgment published on Thursday (December 1) in this regard. Bangladesh Bank has been asked to implement this directive.

The verdict also said that Bangladesh Bank will immediately issue instructions to financial institutions by making insurance compulsory against every loan by the financial institutions.

The approval letter should describe in detail the manner in which the financial institution will recover the defaulted loan.

Apart from this, the Board will also suggest measures for transparency and modernization in all disbursement of loans by financial institutions and monitor the same at regular intervals. The new directive came in the 13-page full judgment.

Earlier, the High Court ruled that from November 23, no bank or financial institution can file a check dishonor case against any person for debt recovery. A bank or financial institution can file a case in the Court of Debt only in the manner described in the Money Loan Court Act 2003 for the recovery of a loan. Besides, all check dishonor cases filed by banks or financial institutions currently pending in the court will be closed, the judgment said.