Labour law violation: Verdict against Prof Yunus, other Grameen Telecom officials on 1 Jan
Alongside Yunus, chairman of Grameen Telecom, three other top officials of the company have been accused in the case
The Dhaka Third Labour Court will deliver its verdict in a case, filed over labour law violations at Grameen Telecom, against Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and three others on 1 January.
Judge Sheikh Merina Sultana, chairman of the court, fixed the date on Sunday (24 December) after hearing the closing arguments by the defendants' lawyers.
Alongside Yunus, chairman of Grameen Telecom, three other top officials of the company - Ashraful Hasan, Director Nurjahan Begum and Md Shah Jahan- have been accused in the case.
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On Sunday, Yunus appeared in court at around 11:30am.
Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun concluded the defence argument at around 6:35pm.
He sought the acquittal of defendants, including Yunus from this case.
Then lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan presented his argument on behalf of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments.
He demanded exemplary punishment of Yunus.
The labour law violation case
On 9 September 2021, the late SM Arifuzzaman, who was a labour inspector of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, filed the case.
According to the case documents, the officials of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments visited Grameen Telecom and found some violations of labour laws.
Some 101 workers were supposed to be made permanent, but they were not made permanent. Workers' funds and welfare funds were not constituted.
Moreover, 5% of the company's dividend was supposed to be given to the workers, but it was not given to them. Based on these allegations, a case was filed against the concerned under criminal law.
On 6 June, the labour court ordered starting the trial by indicting four people including Dr Yunus. When the order was challenged in the High Court, the High Court quashed it.
Dr Yunus appealed to the Appellate Division against the HC order, which was also rejected on 20 August.
On 22 August, the labour court began hearing testimonies related to the case. On 8 November, the defendants were allowed on the stand to speak in their defence, following which both sides began presenting their arguments to the court.
