Tampering with case documents: Labour court kept Prof Yunus’ plea against DIFE officials with record
Staff Reporter :
Third Labour Court in Dhaka on Wednesday said that it has kept with record the petition filed for taking cognizance criminal charge against the officials of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) on an allegation that they had tempered with the documents of the case filed against Nobel Laureate Prof Dr Muhmmad Yunus and his three colleagues.
Judge of the Third Labour Court Sheikh Merina Sultana said that she passed the order on September 13, however, the defense lawyers don’t know about it till the proceedings of September 20.
The judge said she will dispose of the matter during the final hearing of the case.
However, Prof Yunus’ two counsels Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun and Barrister Khaja Tanvir Ahmed are aggrieved with such an order.
Mr Khaja Tanvir said, “When an allegation of document tempering is made against a witness, an order must be passed on the application.
But in this instance, the court has only kept the petition in record.
We are aggrieved with such an order.”
DIFE lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said the defense lawyers raised unnecessary issues to delay the proceedings of the case.
Meanwhile, cross-examination of Tariqul Islam, an Inspector of the DIFE and also the first witness of the case, is continuing.
The court adjourned the cross-examination till September 27.
The court allowed Nurjahan Begum, one of the accused of the case and also a Director of the Grameen Telecom, to appear in the case through her lawyer till her return from Umrah Hajj.
On June 6 this year, the same court framed charge against the accused including Prof Yunus in the case filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments for allegedly violating the labour law.
The other accused in the case are- Grameen Telecom Managing Director Ashraful Hassan, Directors Nurjahan Begum and Md Shahjahan.
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.
