Dr Yunus acquitted in Labour Law violation case

Dr Muhammad Yunus

A Dhaka tribunal today acquitted Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and three top officials of Grameen Telecom of a Labour Law violation case.

MA Awal, Chairman (In-Charge) of the Labour Appellate Tribunal, delivered the verdict, Khaja Tanvir Ahmed, a lawyer for Dr Yunus, told the media.

On January 1, the Labour Court-3 of Dhaka sentenced Prof Yunus, also Chairman of Grameen Telecom, and its Directors Ashraful Hassan, M Shahjahan and Nurjahan Begum to six months’ imprisonment each for violating Labour Law.

The four were also fined Tk 30,000 each, in default of which they would have to serve 25 more days in prison.

On January 28, Professor Yunus and his colleagues filed appeals with the Labour Appellate Tribunal against the Labour Court's sentence.

On September 9, 2021, Labour Inspector (General) SM Arifuzzaman filed the case with the Labour Court-3 of Dhaka against the four people.

The court framed charges in the case on June 6 last year. The court also recorded the depositions of four prosecution witnesses.

The sections of the labour law under which the case was filed carry a maximum of six months’ imprisonment.

According to the case documents, Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) officials inspected the Grameen Telecom office in the capital’s Mirpur area on August 16 of 2021, and found several violations of Labour Law there. - Special Correspondent