The High Court on Sunday issued a rule asking the government to explain as to why the indictment order against four people including Nobel Laureate and Chairman of the Grameen Telecom Trust Dr Muhammad Yunus in connection with a case filed for violating the Labour Law should not be scrapped.
The HC bench of Justice Md. RuhulQuddus and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das issued the rule and asked the authorities concerned including the state counsel to respond to the rule within two weeks.
Advocate Abdullah Al-Mamun stood for the petitioner while Attorney General AM Amin Uddin represented the state.
On September 9, 2021, Labour Inspector Arifuzzaman of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, filed the case with Dhaka 3rd Labour Court.
The others accused in the case are- Ashraful Hasan, CEO of Grameen Telecom Trust, trustee Nurjahan Begum and managing director M Shahjahan.
According to the case, in an inspection visit to Grameen Telecom inspectors of the department found that 101 workers and staff who were supposed to be permanent were not made so.
No participation fund and welfare fund was formed for them and five percent of the company’s profit was not provided to the workers following the law.
Upon a complaint, a criminal case was filed under sections 4, 7, 8, 117, 234 of the Labour Act.
On June 6 of this year, Dhaka Labour Court-3 framed charges against the four accused.
DrYunus and three others filed a petition challenging the legality of the charge framing and seeking a stay order on trial proceedings in the case.