Court Correspondent :
Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus does not want to withdraw the cases against him through misuse of power.
Dr Yunus wants scrapping the cases through legal procedures, AJ Asaduzzaman said this during a hearing at the Appellate Division on Thursday.
The apex court was reviewing a leave to appeal petition challenging a High Court ruling that upheld the indictment of Prof Yunus and six other Grameen Telecom officials in a graft case.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case on May 30 of 2023, accusing Dr Yunus and 13 others of misappropriating approximately Tk 25.22 crore from Grameen Telecom Workers’ Profit Participation Fund and laundering money.
The six accused Grameen Telecom officials are- Managing Director Nazmul Islam, and Directors Ashraful Hassan, Naznin Sultana, Md Shahjahan, Nurjahan Begum and SM Huzzatul Islam Latifee.
On July 24, the High Court rejected a petition filed by Prof Yunus and the other officials challenging a Dhaka court’s decision to frame charges against them on June 12.
The High Court also directed the lower court to complete the trial within a year.
Prof Yunus and the six officials have recently filed a leave to appeal with the Appellate Division, challenging the High Court’s decision.
On August 11, Judge Md Rabiul Alam of the Special Judge Court-4 of Dhaka acquitted Prof Yunus, Nurjahan Begum, and 12 others after the ACC requested withdrawal of the prosecution under Section 494 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Amir Hossain, an ACC official, told the media that the decision came after a thorough review of the case documents.
A day before his oath on August 8, Prof Yunus, also Chairman of Grameen Telecom, and three other directors- Ashraful Hassan, Md Shahjahan, and Nurjahan Begum were acquitted in a separate labour law violation case where they had previously been sentenced to six months imprisonment and fined Tk 30,000 each.
On Thursday, a five-member Appellate Division bench, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, was scheduled to hear the leave to appeal petition against the High Court order.
During the hearing, ACC lawyer AKM Fazlul Hoque argued that the government cannot withdraw cases filed by the ACC. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court instructed the lawyers to present relevant documents concerning the case withdrawal and the High Court order, with the hearing set to resume on September 2.
Other accused in the case include Grameen Telecom Director Parvin Mahmud, Sramik-Karmachari Union President Kamruzzaman, General Secretary Firoz Mahmud Hasan, and others involved with the Jatiya Workers Federation. Barrister Abdullah-Al-Mamun represented the petitioners during the hearing.