A Dhaka court today (January 1) sentenced Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, also the chairman of Grameen Telecom, and three others to six-month imprisonment for violating labour laws.

The three other defendants in the case are Grameen Telecom's director and former managing director Md Ashraful Hasan, members of Board of Directors Nur Jahan Begum and Md Shahjahan.

Sheikh Merina Sultana, chairman of the Dhaka Third Labour Court, delivered the verdict in presence of the Nobel laureate.

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.

BDST: 1527 HRS, JAN 01, 2024
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