Supreme Court Orders Swift BASIS Elections
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has urged the prompt holding of elections for the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), the country’s primary organization for software industry entrepreneurs. Consequently, an administrator is set to be appointed in the organization once again next week.
On 24 August, Sunday, the Appellate Division-2 bench of Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam dismissed a pending writ petition and directed the rapid conduct of BASIS elections. The petitioners’ lawyers in the case were Prabir Niyogi and Hamidul Misbah.
On the other hand, barrister Ruhul Quddus Kajol and advocate Durbar represented BASIS members in opposition to the writ petition, while Additional Attorney General Anik A. Haque appeared for the state.
According to court sources, on 14 May, a stay order had been issued by the Supreme Court on a writ filed by BASIS general member Toufiqul Karim Suhri, which prohibited the appointment of administrators until further directives. Subsequently, two general members of BASIS, A.H.M. Rokmonur Jaman Roni and Belal Ahmed, filed an application to lift the stay order. The court dismissed the leave to appeal, with a bench comprising three judges.
The judges expressed concern over the delay in conducting elections. When asked if anyone objected to the dismissal of the writ, the lawyers remained silent. The bench then ordered that elections be held at the earliest possible date.
Following the ruling, BASIS member A.H.M. Rokmonur Jaman Roni told DigiBanglaTech, "To end the stagnation in BASIS and ensure general members are not harassed, we aligned with the government to appeal against the writ. Our lawyers successfully conveyed to the court that prolonged delays could jeopardize the interests of businesspeople and the IT sector. Regarding the previous petition to hold elections through the prior elected committee, the court did not comment directly, instead directing elections according to standard national procedures."
As per the court directive, BASIS must now transfer responsibilities to an elected executive committee within 90–120 days.
Regarding the dismissal of the writ, Toufiqul Karim Suhri said, "I filed the writ concerning BASIS. At no point did it block elections. I had merely asked the court if the dissolution of an elected committee could be done automatically with a change of government under the Trade Organization Act. This court ruling does not represent a loss for me. I also want BASIS to be run through elected representatives. However, I filed the writ in the interest of ensuring a fair election. My objection was that those who had dissolved the previous committee were not even BASIS members."
