Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus has offered an unconditional apology to the High Court for what he described as an "unintentional failure" in complying with a previous order.
The development took place on Tuesday morning, after Grameen Telecom founder Dr Yunus and former managing director of the telecom operator Ashraful Hassan appeared before the virtual bench of Justice Mubibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Molla.
The bench set April 22 for the next hearing over the reappointment of 38 sacked employees of the telecom service provider. Dr Yunus and Ashraful have apologized unconditionally for failing to reinstate the sacked employees, according to media reports.
Yunus and Hassan were also exonerated from personal appearances before the court.
The High Court on February 18 held Yunus in contempt of court and ordered him to appear before it on Tuesday to give an explanation for failing to comply with a previous order.
Mostafizur Rahman Khan and Rokon Uddin Mahmud represented the defence, while Yusuf Ali represented the prosecution on Tuesday.
After the hearing, Mostafizur said his clients had offered unconditional apologies as they did not intentionally flout the previous order.
“A written affidavit has been submitted to the bench, detailing whatever measures have been taken to implement the court’s previous orders. After that, the court exempted them from appearing before it personally,” he concluded.
Yunus was accused of sacking the employees without holding discussions with the Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) leaders of Grameen Telecom.
They were terminated reportedly through a single notice signed by Hassan.
Later, the decision was challenged at the High Court, which ordered the reappointment of the workers.