A US court on Thursday issued “arrest warrants” for financial adviser Salehuddin Ahmed and central bank governor Ahsan H Mansur, whom a power company wants to testify, as it seeks to enforce a sentence collective arbitration award of $31.9 million against Bangladesh.

The move prompted an immediate appeal from the Bangladesh government, reported Law360, a New York-based legal news publisher.

US District Judge Carl J Nichols ordered the US Marshals Service to “detain and bring to justice” Ahmed and Mansur, granting a request from Smith Cogeneration (Bangladesh).

The company has described Ahmed and Mansur as “two of the most senior executives” in Bangladesh’s finances and says it needs their depositions as part of its decades-long effort to satisfy the arbitration awards.

But Bangladesh – appearing on the docket for the first time since the case was filed in 2006 – filed a quick appeal to the Washington Circuit on Thursday afternoon, arguing that Judge Nichols lacked jurisdiction to order the arrest of Ahmed and Mansur.

“Furthermore, the two individuals subject to the arrest warrants, both of whom are high-level Bangladeshi diplomats and officials of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, are immune from criminal and civil prosecution in the States “United,” Bangladesh said. wrote in his appeal.

The immediate appeal, Bangladesh said, deprives the court of jurisdiction and renders the arrest warrants unenforceable.

The Daily Star shared the Law360 report with Ahmed and Mansur and sought comment, but neither responded. This newspaper also contacted the press secretary of the chief advisor, Shafiqul Alam, but he refused to comment.

The newspaper also contacted two senior officials at the Power Development Board, but both said they were unaware of the problem.

Smith Cogeneration, in its Wednesday motion for contempt sanctions, said Ahmed and Mansur were scheduled to appear Wednesday for depositions under a court order directing them to do so. But the two men did not show up, according to the motion.

“Without an order from this court holding the (Bangladesh government) in contempt, the (government) will continue to ignore the authority of this court and will not comply with or respond to deposition notices,” Smith Cogeneration said in the request.

Ahmed and Mansur were both in Washington this week for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.

Smith Cogeneration said the visit could be its only chance to take depositions as the company pursues Bangladeshi assets.

Smith Cogeneration said it had been fighting for years to enforce the arbitration awards after an International Chamber of Commerce tribunal in London made them in 2002 and 2003.

The dispute originated in 1997, when Smith Cogeneration signed a power purchase agreement with the Bangladesh government and its Power Development Board that included the construction of a barge-based power plant in northern Bangladesh.

Smith Cogeneration told the Washington, D.C. court in its 2006 enforcement motion that the government had agreed to provide the company with all permits required to complete the project, according to the Law360 report.

However, the government abandoned the project in 1999 and never provided the company with the necessary permits, Smith Cogeneration claimed. It then cashed a $1.5 million performance guarantee financed by Smith Cogeneration.

The company initiated arbitration in the ICC court that same year, and the court subsequently ordered the electric commission to pay out more than $13.5 million. The Power Development Board was also forced to pay an additional $39,000, and the PDB and the Bangladesh government were forced to pay an additional $222,000, according to court filings.

A D.C. federal judge upheld the sentences in 2007, and the court revised its final ruling at the request of Smith Cogeneration in May. Smith Cogeneration’s lawyer told Law360 that, taking into account interest and other costs, Bangladesh now owes Smith Cogeneration more than $31 million.