The High Court has scrapped a Labour Appellate Tribunal’s order that stayed the six-month jail term of Nobel laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus and three other Grameen Telecom officials in a case filed over violation of labour law.
The HC, however, stayed their sentences and fine till disposal of the appeals filed by Dr Yunus and three others challenging the verdict in the case. The appeals are pending with the Labour Appellate Tribunal in Dhaka. The higher court asked the Labour Appellate Tribunal to
dispose of the appeals as early as possible.
The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Ibadat Hossain issued the order on Monday (March 18) following the hearing of a petition challenging the Labour Appellate Tribunal order.
Senior lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan took part in the hearing on behalf of the plaintiff, while lawyer Abdullah Al Mamun along with Khawaza Tanvir Ahmed represented Dr Muhammad Yunus and three others in the court.
While delivering a verdict on a petition, the HC bench said the conviction of Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus and three others will remain operational till the disposal of their appeals.
The bench also upheld the labour court’s directive that asked Dr Yunus and others to comply with relevant rules concerning the jobs of the workers till the disposal of the appeal.
On January 1, Dhaka Labour Court-3 sentenced Grameen Telecom Chairman Dr Yunus and three others to six months in jail and fined each Tk. 30,000 in the case filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments on September 9 2021.
The three other accused in the case are directors of Grameen Telecom Ashraful Hassan, Nurjahan Begum and M Shahjahan.
The court also granted Dr Yunus and three others a month’s bail on condition of filing an appeal challenging the verdict of the court.
After the filing of the appeal, the Labour Appellate Tribunal on January 28 granted bail to Dr Yunus and three others, accepting the appeal for hearing. On that day, the tribunal also suspended the sentence handed down by the labour court.
On February 4, a petition was filed by Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan with the High Court challenging the suspension of Dr Yunus’s six-month sentence in the case. The petition also appealed to the court not to allow Dr Yunus to go abroad without its permission.
On February 5, the High Court directed Dr Yunus to inform the Labour Appeal Tribunal if he wanted to go overseas. At the same time, the court stayed the suspension of Dr Yunus’s six-month sentence.
