Prof Yunus pleads not guilty in labour law violation case

Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus. Creative Commons.

Nobel Laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus today told the Third Labour Court of Dhaka that he was innocent after the judge of the court read out the charges in a Labour Law Violation case filed against him.

Dr Yunus submitted a statement to the court.

Sheikh Merina Sultana, Chairman of the Third Labour Court of Dhaka, then fixed November 16 for arguments in the case, Khaja Tanvir Ahmed, a defense lawyer, told the media.

Dr Yunus, Chairman of Grameen Telecom, and its top officials- Ashraful Hassan, Nurjahan Begum and Mohammad Shahjahan appeared before the court around noon.

Earlier, the court recorded statements of four prosecution witnesses in the case.

On June 6, the court framed charges against the accused, including Dr Yunus.

On September 9, 2021, Labour Inspector (General) SM Arifuzzaman of the Inspection for Factories and Establishments Department (IFED) filed the case with the court.

According to the case documents, IFED officials on August 16, 2021, inspected the office of Grameen Telecom in the capital’s Mirpur and found several violation incidents of the Labour Law.

On August 19 of that year, the department sent a letter to the authorities of Grameen Telecom, mentioning that 67 of its employees were supposed to be made permanent employees. But it  was not done so, the case statement said.

Besides, the employees’ participation and welfare funds were yet to be formed, and five percent of the company’s dividends supposed to be paid to the workers were not paid, the letter added. - Special Correspondent