The cases involve a wide range of creditors, including investors, customers, suppliers, employees and other businesses seeking to recover unpaid money.
TBS Illustration
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TBS Illustration
Highlights:
- Creditors filed 74 new cases, but only 13 were disposed.
- Some liquidation cases have remained pending for five to 10 years.
- DOM-INNO customers seek recovery after waiting 15–20 years.
- E-commerce liquidation cases involve Tk3,869cr in customer claims.
- Experts urge mediation, restructuring and stronger insolvency mechanisms.
Around Tk18,000 crore in claims is tied up in 246 company liquidation cases pending with the High Court, with creditors turning to winding-up petitions as a last resort to recover money owed to them.
The backlog is growing as new cases continue to outpace disposals. Between January and August this year, creditors filed 74 new liquidation cases involving around Tk4,500 crore in claims, while only 13 cases involving about Tk400 crore were disposed of, according to court data.
The cases involve a wide range of creditors, including investors, customers, suppliers, employees and other businesses seeking to recover unpaid money. In some cases, customers have waited years for flats or plots they paid for, while creditors of distressed companies have struggled to recover outstanding debts.
Old cases continue to add to the backlog
Of the 246 pending cases, 56 were filed in 2025 and involve around Tk2,500 crore in claims. Another 37 cases filed in 2024 involve around Tk1,800 crore, while 49 cases filed in 2023 involve around Tk2,100 crore.
Infograph: TBS
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Infograph: TBS
The remaining cases, some of which were filed five to 10 years ago, involve around Tk7,100 crore in claims.
The disposal rate has remained low. The High Court disposed of 18 liquidation cases in 2025, involving around Tk650 crore in claims.
DOM-INNO case highlights prolonged customer losses
The recent appointment of temporary liquidators to developer DOM-INNO and four sister concerns illustrates the difficulties faced by creditors seeking recovery through the courts.
The High Court’s company bench appointed temporary liquidators in August following petitions by around 200 customers who alleged that they had been denied flats or plots despite waiting 15 to 20 years.
Mohammad Jamil Khan, counsel for the customers, told The Business Standard that DOM-INNO had undertaken around 56 projects over the past 15 to 20 years, involving thousands of customers. Many of the projects have since been abandoned, while landowners who provided land to the company were also allegedly affected.
The court has said other affected plot owners and flat buyers may approach it with their claims. Around 400 additional customers and landowners are currently seeking to be included in the case, according to the lawyer.
The current plaintiffs’ claims amount to around Tk400 crore, while the total could rise to about Tk3,500 crore if all affected customers become parties to the case, according to a victim cited in the report.
The High Court has appointed a chartered accountant and two Supreme Court lawyers as liquidators, with a follow-up hearing expected after the court’s vacation ends next month.
Liquidation is meant to turn company assets into creditor payments
Under the Companies Act 1994, liquidation is not simply a process of shutting down a company. Its purpose is to identify and, where necessary, sell the company’s assets, establish creditors’ claims and distribute the available proceeds according to the legal order of priority before the company is dissolved.
Company law expert Imran Ahmed Bhuiyan told TBS that a creditor or investor who fails to recover money from a company may seek its winding-up through the High Court’s company bench. Once a winding-up order is issued, control of the company’s assets, bank accounts, records and liabilities passes to the official liquidator or court-appointed liquidator.
Creditors must then submit evidence of their claims. Section 324 of the Companies Act allows various types of existing, future, contingent and specific claims to be established through the prescribed process. The money recovered from the company’s assets is then distributed according to the legally determined priority.
E-commerce recovery cases remain unresolved
Liquidation petitions involving several troubled e-commerce companies have also remained unresolved.
In the case of e-Valy, customers and merchants filed 11 separate cases in 2021 seeking recovery of around Tk1,000 crore through liquidation proceedings. The cases have yet to be disposed of.
Meanwhile, e-Orange, Qcoom, Dhamaka Shopping and Alesha Mart face 58,720 complaints from customers and merchants involving claims of around Tk3,869 crore.
Of around Tk531 crore held at various payment gateways under High Court orders, Tk472 crore has already been returned to customers. However, the liquidation petitions involving the companies have not been finally disposed of.
Some cases end through settlement
Not every winding-up petition results in a company being liquidated.
A 2021 petition seeking the winding-up of Grameen Telecom over around Tk437 crore in workers’ claims was dismissed in 2023 after the company and the workers’ union reached a settlement.
The High Court dismissed the case on 23 May 2023 after both sides informed the court that their dispute had been amicably settled.
In another case involving Homeland Footwear Limited, the High Court ordered liquidation in 2002 over an unpaid investment of Tk45.07 lakh. Following an appeal and a subsequent management restructuring agreement, the court stayed the winding-up proceedings, eventually allowing the petitioner, Amir Hossain, to assume operational control after obtaining more than 51% of the company’s shares.
Nasir Float Glass case highlights intra-group debt disputes
A separate winding-up petition was filed against Nasir Float Glass Industries in October 2024 over an alleged debt of around Tk197.13 crore owed to Nasir Glass.
Currently, Nasima Biswas, daughter of the late Nasir Uddin Biswas, founder of the Nasir Group, serves as the managing director of Nasir Glass, while her brother, Nasim Biswas, heads Nasir Float Glass.
Senior lawyer Ahsanul Karim, representing the petitioner, said the debt arose from funds provided by Nasir Glass for the establishment and operation of Nasir Float Glass. He said the amount was reflected in the companies’ bank transactions and audit reports.
According to court sources, the case has been admitted for hearing, but there has been no progress so far.
Experts call for alternatives to winding-up
Company and corporate law specialist Barrister Md Mustafizur Rahman said filing a liquidation petition does not automatically result in a winding-up order. After a petition is filed, the company and relevant parties are given an opportunity to respond, and cases may be settled before the court reaches a final decision.
Constitutional expert Shahdeen Malik emphasised that winding-up petitions should not be the sole mechanism for debt recovery or corporate exit.
He advocated for mandatory mediation or alternative dispute resolution prior to filing liquidation petitions, alongside an effective insolvency framework, restructuring options for viable firms, and automated strike-off procedures by the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms for inactive companies.
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