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The High Court has amended the ‘judgement and order’ part of the verdict issued by the Labour Appellate Tribunal
Published : 18 Mar 2024, 03:33 PM
The High Court has declared invalid an order suspending six-month jail terms for Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and three other Grameen Telecom officials in a case over the breach of labour laws.
The bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Ebadoth Hossain delivered the verdict on Monday, amending the Labour Appellate Tribunal’s order and issuing four separate instructions.
Yunus’s six-month jail term will remain in force due to the amended order. However, the punishment, fine and direction on certain matters – these three will be suspended.
Lawyer Abdullah Al Mamun represented Yunus in court while advocate Khurshid Alam Khan stood for the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE).
The Labour Appellate Tribunal had suspended the ‘judgement and order’ delivered by the labour court but the judgement includes both the sentence and penalty. The sentence can be suspended but not the penalty, Khan said afterwards.
“The HC cancelled the portion that halted the sentence and suspended three other factors.”
“There are four aspects of this decision. First - the sentence will not be suspended, it will remain in place; secondly- the punishment, thirdly- the fine and fourthly – the instructions on several matters – these [last] three will be suspended.”
On Jan 1, Yunus, along with Grameen Telecom's Managing Director Ashraful Hasan, and directors Nurjahan Begum and Md Shahjahan, were each sentenced to six months in jail and fined Tk 30,000 by the Dhaka Third Labour Court in a case initiated by the DIFE.
Yunus and the three others appealed against the verdict on Jan 28. The tribunal accepted the appeal for a hearing, granting them bail and halted the third labour court’s verdict until Mar 3.
The tribunal extended the bail term till Apr 16 after a hearing on Mar 3.
Nobel Prize-winning microcredit pioneer Yunus and the others were accused of failing to provide employees of Grameen Telecom with appointment letters, get work schedules approved by the authorities, and submit annual and half-yearly returns.
