The meeting said legal experts stressed that the recently revised Bank Company Law was not applicable to the state-owned bank and there was no bar for Ibrahim to be director of the bank for another term.

The meeting decided to inform the central bank of the matter. Earlier, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) asked the Rupali Bank to explain legality of the reelection of Ibrahim as one of its directors.

According to the recently revised Bank Company Law, a director cannot hold the post for more than six years at a stretch. The law, however, does not say whether it is applicable to state-owned or private banks.

Ibrahim became a director of the Rupali Bank in 1994 and has since been holding the position.

Ibrahim, who became a lawmaker for Bhola on the ruling coalition nomination, was reelected at the bank's annual general meeting on August 6 from the private shareholders' quota.

Rupali Bank continues to be a state-owned enterprise despite being floated in the stock exchange as a public limited company in 1986. The state owns 93.65 per cent of its shares.

The BB, which in the past took stern action for violation of the law, soft-pedalled on Ibrahim and asked for an explanation from the Rupali Bank in a recent letter.