The High Court (HC) on Wednesday discharged a rule it had issued last year, staying proceedings of a case against Grameen Telecom Chairman and Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus and three others for allegedly violating labour laws.
“Because of today’s order, now there is no legal bar in continuing the proceedings of the case at the concerned labour court,” Advocate Md Khurshid Alam Khan, the lawyer for the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), said.
A High Court division bench comprising Justice S M Kuddus Zaman and Justice Fahmida Quader passed the order, after holding a hearing on the rule issued on December 12, 2021.
“The court discharged the rule. We would go to the Appellate Division against this order,” Dr Yunus’s Lawyer Abdullah Al Mamun said.
The High Court through its last order has stayed the proceedings of the case for six months. The state later appealed against it with the Appellate Division.
After holding a hearing on the appeal, the apex court on June 13 passed an order, asking to dispose of the matter within two months.
DIFE Inspector Arifuzzaman filed the case against Dr Yunus and three others on September 9, 2021, and the court summoned the four to appear before it by October 12.
The other three accused in the case are- Grameen Telecom Managing Director Ashraful Hasan, and Board Directors Nurjahan Begum and Md Shahjahan.
According to the case documents, a team of DIFE went on an inspection of Grameen Telecom and found violations of labour laws like not regularizing 101 staff, not establishing a welfare fund for the labourers, among others.
