HC questions legality of charge framing against Prof Yunus

Staff Reporter  :
The High Court on Sunday issued a rule upon the concerned bodies of the government to explain in two weeks as to why charge framing order against nobel laureate Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus, also chairman of Grameen Telecom, and three others in a case filed on charges of violating the labour law should not be scrapped.

Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) and others have been asked to comply with the rule.

The High Court bench of Justice Md Ruhul Quddus and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das passed the order after hearing a petition.

Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun took part in the hearing on behalf of Prof Yunus and three others, while Attorney General AM Amin Uddin represented the state.

Barrister Mamun on behalf of Prof Yunus and three others filed the petition on June 19 this year. The lawyer said they challenged the legality of the labour court order framing the charges against his clients.

On June 6, Judge of the Third Labour Court in Dhaka, Sheikh Merina Sultana, framed charges against Prof Yunus and three others in the case filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE).

The other accused in the case are- Grameen Telecom Managing Director Ashraful Hassan, Directors Nurjahan Begum and Md Shahjahan.

Prof Yunus and other accused in the case appeared in the court during the charge framing hearing and pleaded them innocent and sought justice from the court.

Inspector of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, Arifuzzaman, filed the case with Dhaka 3rd Labour Court on 9 September in 2021 against four people, including Prof Yunus.

According to the case documents, a team of DIFE went on an inspection to Grameen Telecom and found the violations of labour laws like not regularizing 101 staff, not establishing a welfare fund for the labourers, among others.

Besides, 5 percent of the company’s dividends was supposed to be paid to the workers participation fund but it was not paid, also read the case statement.
After hearing the case, the Labour Court had also summoned the four to

appear before it on October 12 in 2021. Later the Labour Court granted bail to Prof Yunus in the case on that day.