A simple cheque withdrawal turned into a months-long struggle for Nasima Begum, who alleged that National Bank’s Mirzapur branch in Tangail refused to accept or process her Tk30,000 cheque despite having sufficient funds in her savings account.
After allegedly failing to get a remedy from National Bank and Bangladesh Bank, Nasima and three other depositors approached the High Court on 20 September seeking directives to withdraw their savings. The petitioners are seeking directives to allow them to withdraw their savings from their accounts.
The writ petition, filed under the High Court Division’s special original jurisdiction on 20 September, was submitted under petition number 13668 of 2026. The four petitioners are Lucky Akter, Nasima Begum, Mst Sathi Begum and Mohammad Shamim Ahmed, who maintain savings accounts with National Bank branches in Mirzapur, Tangail, and Bhaluka, Mymensingh.
Shamim faced a similar situation on the same day at National Bank’s Bhaluka branch, where he sought to withdraw Tk220,000 from his savings account. He alleged that his cheque was also not accepted or processed despite having sufficient balance.
Shamim told TIMES of Bangladesh that he had been visiting the bank repeatedly for the past four to five months to withdraw his savings.
“Despite repeatedly explaining my difficulties, I received no remedy. Instead, I was harassed by bank officials,” he said. “If I cannot withdraw my own savings when I need them, it feels as though my money is being held hostage by the bank.”
The petition states that all four applicants have valid and active savings accounts with sufficient balances but were allegedly denied access to their deposits despite repeated visits to the branches.
They claim the bank provided no lawful order, legal grounds or adequate written explanation for withholding payment. After failing to get a remedy from National Bank, they lodged complaints with Bangladesh Bank but alleged that the central bank took no effective steps.
The respondents include the finance ministry secretary, Bangladesh Bank Governor, a central bank general manager, officials of its Technology Risk and Digital Banking Supervision Department and Customers’ Interest Protection Centre, and the managing director of National Bank.
Supreme Court lawyer Maruf Ul Abed, who prepared the petition, said it was not a conventional money-recovery case.
“The petitioners have sufficient funds in their accounts, but they cannot withdraw them. The matter has therefore been brought before the court for the necessary directions,” he told TIMES.
The petition was expected to be heard on 27 September after the court vacation.
Abed said National Bank has been facing asset-quality and liquidity pressures. Stronger enforcement of insolvency laws, recovery from defaulters’ assets and greater accountability could help contain non-performing loans and liquidity pressures in the banking sector.
Bangladesh Bank’s latest publicly available data do not disclose National Bank’s individual classified-loan position. However, its Banking Sector Update shows that the combined classified-loan ratio of first-generation private commercial banks rose to 34.4 per cent at the end of March 2026, from 31.5 per cent in December 2025 and 27.6 per cent a year earlier, reflecting a broader deterioration in the group’s asset quality.
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan said the central bank was aware that several lenders were facing liquidity shortages.
Customers choose their banks, while transactions are governed by the relationship between banks and clients, he said. Repaying deposits when customers seek withdrawals is the responsibility of the relevant bank.
However, Khan said Bangladesh Bank could not directly pay individual depositors or immediately provide additional liquidity whenever a bank faced cash shortages.
The central bank could investigate and issue instructions if customers faced harassment or violations of banking rules, he said. However, Bangladesh Bank was already aware of National Bank’s liquidity condition and did not consider it necessary to issue a fresh letter or notice solely on that ground.
He could not later be reached for clarification on the petitioners’ allegation that Bangladesh Bank failed to act on their complaints.
National Bank Managing Director’s personal secretary said the management had not received any update about the writ petition and would consult its legal team before commenting.
