HC withdraws verdict on Grameen Kalyan’s Tk666 crore tax dispute

The High Court has withdrawn its 4 August ruling that ordered Grameen Kalyan, an organisation founded by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, to pay Tk666 crore in taxes to the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

The decision was made after one of the judges, upon preparing the full judgment, expressed discomfort due to a conflict of interest. This development was confirmed on Thursday (3 October) by court sources.

The decision came after Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir, part of the two-judge bench, revealed that he had earlier served as a deputy attorney general and had contested the case on behalf of the government.

This revelation came while the full text of the court's 4 August ruling, which mandated Grameen Kalyan to pay Tk666 crore to the NBR was being written.

In response, the High Court bench, consisting of Justice Mohammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Jahangir, withdrew the ruling, citing a conflict of interest. The case documents have now been forwarded to the chief justice, who will appoint a new bench to rehear the case.

Yunus' lawyer, Abdullah-Al-Mamun said, "The bench felt the ruling would be defective as one of the judges had previously represented the government in the matter. This puts us in a challenging position, and we hope it doesn't lead to misunderstandings about the fairness of the judicial process." 

The original ruling, delivered on 4 August, dismissed a writ filed by Grameen Kalyan challenging the NBR's tax demand for the fiscal years between 2012 and 2017.

The High Court's decision at the time had compelled Yunus' company to settle the tax liability with the government.