The Labour Appellate Tribunal in Dhaka on Thursday extended bail of Grameen Telecom chairman and Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and three top officials of the company till July 4 in a labour law violation case.
MA Awal, acting chairman of the Labour Appellate Tribunal, passed the order after Yunus and his three other colleagues appeared before the court and sought bail in the case.
The court also fixed July 4 for the next hearing on the appeal against the six-month imprisonment verdict against the four convicts by the Dhaka Labuor Court-3 on January 1.
After the court hearing, Yunus told journalists, ‘We are in a big disaster, and because of this, we cannot work as per our wishes. Even at this age, we have to appear before the court regularly.’
He said, ‘I am being harassed. The whole world is watching this. The status of Bangladesh in the outside world is being undermined due to this.’ Â
Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan, however, said that there was no jurisdiction for the convicted person to talk about the status of Bangladesh.
The status of Bangladesh does not depend on him, the lawyer added.
The three other accused in the case are Grameen Telecom officials Md Ashraful Hassan, Md Shahjahan, and Nurjahan Begum.
The 83-year-old Nobel laureate, who is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank, is now facing more than 170 cases over various charges.
On September 9, 2021, the DIFE filed a case against Yunus and three others for violating labour laws at Grameen Telecom.
According to case files, DIFE noticed several labour law violations during an inspection at Grameen Telecom.
The violations include failing to confirm jobs of 101 workers and employees, not forming a workers’ participation fund and welfare fund, and failing to provide 5 per cent of the company’s dividend to workers.