Labour Appellate Tribunal staying Dr Yunus’s conviction

Court Correspondent :
Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) on Sunday filed a petition with the High Court Division of the Supreme Court challenging the Labour Appellate Tribunal order that stayed the conviction and sentence of Nobel laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus and three others in a Labour Law violation case.

Tariqul Islam, Inspector of the DIFE, who investigated the case, submitted the criminal revision petition to the High Court through its lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan.

In the petition, he prayed to the apex court to pass an order to prevent Dr Yunus and three others from going abroad without permission from the court concerned until their appeals are disposed of by the Labour Appellate Tribunal, Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan told the media.

Citing the petition, he said an appellate court cannot stay the conviction and sentence delivered by a trial court to any convict under the relevant rules of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The appellate court can stay the order of only fine, he also said, adding that the apex court bench led by Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder may hold hearing on the revision petition on Monday.

Meanwhile, Dr Yunus’ lawyer Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun told the media that a revision petition has been filed in order to harass Professor Yunus and three others.
Prof Yunus, who is an internationally important personality, has to go abroad to attend seminars which brings dignity to the country, he said.

Stopping him from going abroad will damage the country’s honour, he added.
On January 1, Sheikh Merina Sultana, Chairman of the Third Labour Court of Dhaka, sentenced Dr Yunus, Chairman of Grameen Telecom, and its directors Ashraful Hassan, Nurjahan Begum and M Shahjahan to six months’ imprisonment in a case.

Soon after the verdict, the court granted bail to all four for a month, following their separate bail pleas.