The High Court has recalled a case that had been withdrawn by the ‘Grameen Telecom Union of Workers and Employees’ who had filed the case against Grameen Telecom, an organisation owned by Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.
The HC bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar issued the order on Thursday (June 30) after an allegation has been raised that the case was settled through compromise in exchange of Tk 25 crore.
During the hearing on the case, the HC bench said that the case has been recalled as there is the evidence of transection of the amount among lawyers and leaders of the ‘Grameen Telecom Union of Workers and Employees’. The employees’ lawyers were biased in exchange of money and the employees were forced to settle the case through compromise, said the court.
The higher court asked both the parties to submit statement regarding the due payments of the employees of the Grameen Telecom.
The court also asked the parties to submit the relevant documents of the dealings in the court before August 2. Lawyers of both the parties were asked to appear before the court on that day with the documents.
The allegation of settling the case through compromise in exchange of money has been raised against the petitioners’ lawyers and some leaders of the Grameen Telecom Union of Workers and Employees.
Among them, Md Yousuf Ali, a lawyer of Grameen Telecom employees and a BNP leader of Natore; Jafrul Hasan Sharif, another lawyer of the employees; Md Kamruzzaman, president of Grameen Telecom Union of Workers and Employees; Firoz Mahmud Hasan, general secretary of the organisation; and Md Mainul Islam, representative of the organisation.
During the hearing, the HC bench of Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar said, “There should not be any irregularity by using the court. If everything is not in accordance with the law, the matter will be taken seriously. I don’t want to see raising of any question about the integrity of the court and the lawyers.”
Expressing surprise for taking Tk 12 crore by a lawyer of the case, the court said that here is no lawyer, not only in Bangladesh, but also in this subcontinent, who can take fee at Tk 120 million (12 crore) in a case.
It was alleged lawyer Md Yousuf Ali only took Tk 12 crore, while the rest amount was transected among another lawyer and the union leaders.
However, the lawyers of the parties informed the court that they have reached in an out of court settlement with an amount of Tk 4.37 billion which was paid to employees. A total of Tk 3.8 billion has already been paid to the 168 out of 176 Grameen Telecom employees. The payment of the remaining eight employees is being delayed due to legal complications, since four of the employees died already and four others are abroad, said the lawyers.
Barrister Mustafizur Rahman Khan appeared in the court on behalf of the Grameen Telecom, while lawyer Md Yousuf Ali appeared for the employees.
About the allegation brought against him, Yousuf Ali said that the report published over receiving Tk 120 million as lawyer’s fee is a rumour.
All the cases filed by the ‘Grameen Telecom Union of Workers and Employees’ against Professor Muhammad Yunus and his organisation had been withdrawn from different courts after the parties reached in settlement over the claim of the employees.
On the ground, the High Court on May 23 issued order dismissing a petition filed by the employees seeking liquidation of Grameen Telecom.
More than 110 cases were filed against Dr Yunus and Grameen Telecom by the members of the ‘Grameen Telecom Union of Workers and Employees’ over their claim, said Barrister Mustafizur Rahman Khan.
