The Labour Appellate Tribunal today (January 28) granted bail to Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, chairman of Grameen Telecom, and three other top officials of the company, in a labour law violations case.

Desk Report:

Earlier today, the four filed an appeal with the Labour Appellate Tribunal against a Dhaka Labour Court verdict in a labour law violations case.

They also filed bail petitions with the tribunal after they appeared in the court today.

Later, the appeal was accepted by the tribunal and the four were granted bail till disposal of the appeal.

Dr Yunus was facing more than 100 other charges over labour law violations and alleged graft.

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 in jail in a case.

Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) Inspector Arifuzzaman filed the case on September 9, 2021, and the court had summoned the four to appear before it by October 12, 2021.

According to the case documents, a team of the DIFE went on an inspection to the Grameen Telecom and found the violations of labour laws like not regularizing 101 staff and not establishing a welfare fund for the laborers, among others.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on August 20 dismissed the leave to appeal petition filed by Grameen Telecom Chairman and Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, challenging a High Court verdict that rejected his petition against labour court’s indictment order.

On July 23 this year, a High Court bench issued a rule asking the state to explain why the labour court order that framed charges against Dr Yunus and three others should not be scrapped, followed by an application submitted on May 19 by the noble laureate. The High Court on August 8 scrapped the rule.

Earlier, DIFE lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said they have sought the highest punishment of Dr Muhammad Yunus and the three others in the case.