Dhaka, Feb. 16 -- The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday upheld a High Court (HC) order that issued a status quo on January 29 over the demand for transfer of shares of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway project from the Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited (ITD) in favour of two Chinese shareholder companies.

A six-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan, passed the order after hearing a leave-to-appeal petition filed by one of the Chinese companies, China Shandong International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group (CSI).

Two Chinese companies - the CSI and Sinohydro Corporation Limited which currently hold 34 and 15 per cent shares in the First Dhaka Elevated Expre...