Dr Yunus acquitted in by labour court

Court Correspondent :

A tribunal in Dhaka on Wednesday has cancelled the sentence and acquitted Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and three senior officials of Grameen Telecom in a case concerning violations of Labour Law.
The verdict was delivered by MA Awal, Chairman (In-Charge) of the Labour Appellate Tribunal, as confirmed by Khaja Tanvir Ahmed, a lawyer representing Dr Yunus.

Earlier, on January 1, Dhaka’s Labour Court-3 had sentenced Professor Yunus, who also serves as Chairman of Grameen Telecom, along with Directors Ashraful Hassan, M Shahjahan, and Nurjahan Begum, to six months’ imprisonment each for alleged breaches of Labour Law. The court also imposed a fine of Tk 30,000 on each of the defendants, with an additional 25 days’ imprisonment stipulated in case of default on payment.

Following the sentencing, Dr Yunus and his co-defendants filed appeals with the Labour Appellate Tribunal on January 28. The tribunal’s decision to acquit them was issued on Wednesday.

The case was initiated by Labour Inspector (General) SM Arifuzzaman on September 9, 2021. The Labour Court-3 of Dhaka framed charges on June 6 of the following year, with testimonies from four prosecution witnesses being recorded.

The charges were based on inspections conducted by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) at Grameen Telecom’s office in Mirpur on August 16, 2021. The inspections revealed several alleged violations of Labour Law.

The sections of the Labour Law under which the case was filed carry a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment.