HC upholds govt decision to recover Meghnaghat Power workers' profit-sharing dues

The High Court on Thursday upheld the government decision to recover workers' profit-sharing dues from Meghnaghat Power Limited under the Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913, clearing the way for the authorities to realise the money through certificate proceedings.

The court also dismissed all writ petitions filed by the company challenging the legality of the certificate cases and the government's decision to initiate criminal proceedings against the officials responsible for the alleged violation of the law.

The High Court bench of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Md. Ashif Hasan delivered the verdict after holding hearing on the petitions.

With the verdict, there remains no legal bar to continuing the certificate proceedings or to the government's other measures for recovering the workers' dues, workers' lawyer Barrister Omar Sadat told The Daily Star.

The dispute stems from a writ petition filed by the company's workers seeking government intervention under Section 236 of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, alleging that Meghnaghat Power had failed to distribute 5 percent of its annual net profit among its workers as required by law.

On June 8, 2016, the High Court directed the government to take necessary legal steps to ensure payment of the workers' share of the company's annual net profit for the period between 2006 and 2013.

The company challenged the verdict before the Appellate Division, but the appeal was dismissed on January 14, 2019.
Following the apex court's order, the government instructed the company to pay the workers their statutory share of the profits.

According to the case records, despite repeated directives from the government, the company failed to comply.

Consequently, the authorities in 2025 initiated certificate proceedings under the Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913, to recover the workers' dues.

The government also decided to initiate criminal proceedings against the company's responsible officials for the alleged violation of the labour law.

Meghnaghat Power Limited later filed several writ petitions challenging both the certificate proceedings and the proposed criminal action.

After hearing the parties, the High Court rejected all the petitions, thereby affirming the legality of the government's actions.

Senior Advocate Sk Md Morshed appeared for Meghnaghat Power Limited while Senior Advocate Omar Sadat, Barrister Abir Abbas Chowdhury and Advocate Ali Azgar Faisal represented the workers, and a deputy attorney general appeared for the government.
Regarding this HC order, Barrister Omar Sadat Said, with this HC order, the government's efforts to recover the dividends owed to Bangladeshi workers will remain continued.

The High Court's ruling has made it harder for foreign companies to cheat Bangladeshi workers, he added.