Civil suits to recover defaulted loans under the Artha Rin Adalat Ain, 2003 and criminal cases over cheque dishonour can proceed side by side, Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal said on Monday.
Justice Md Rezaul Haque of the Appellate Division Chamber Court passed the order, setting aside High Court interim stay orders in three loan-related cases.
Speaking later, the attorney general noted that the non-repayment of loans taken from banks and financial institutions is a long-standing issue. He said many borrowers build houses, purchase cars, and acquire assets abroad using public deposit money.
With the objective of quickly recovering defaulted loans, the then BNP government enacted the Artha Rin Adalat Ain in 2003.
He added that Section 138 of the 1881 Act provides a separate legal mechanism regarding cheque dishonour or rejected cheques.
The central legal question was whether, alongside civil suits running in the Artha Rin Adalat for loan recovery, criminal cases could also proceed if a cheque issued against that loan was dishonoured.
The attorney general said loan defaulters argued that cases under the Artha Rin Adalat Ain are civil in nature and typically offer no scope for imprisonment or fines, meaning criminal cases for cheque dishonour against the same loan cannot proceed.
However, multiple Supreme Court decisions have affirmed that both cases can run concurrently because they pertain to different offences.
Detailing the background of the High Court verdict and appeal, the attorney general said on 19 March 2025, a High Court bench observed in a judgment that filing cases by financial institutions to recover defaulted loans under the Artha Rin Adalat Ain, 2003 and Section 138 of the 1881 Act was illegal and beyond jurisdiction.
That verdict also declared the ongoing proceedings of those cases void.
He added that after the state appealed to the Supreme Court, a leave petition was accepted on 26 October 2025 and the operation of that verdict was stayed.
Subsequently, on 28 September, a High Court bench stayed the proceedings of ongoing cheque dishonour cases on a similar matter.
Against that interim order, Bangladesh Bank filed appeals in three cases. On Monday, following a hearing on the three cases, the Chamber Court of the Appellate Division stayed the operation of the High Court’s orders.
The attorney general said that as a result of this order, banks and financial institutions can now pursue criminal cases over dishonoured cheques alongside civil suits in the Artha Rin Adalat to recover defaulted loans.
