Staff Reporter :
The High Court on Wednesday cleared the way for a Labour Court to continue its proceedings of a case filed against Nobel laureate Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus and three others on charge of violating the labour law.
The High Court has discharged a rule issued earlier upon the concerned bodies of the government to explain as to why they should not be directed to scrap the trial proceedings of the case filed against Grameen Telecom chairman Prof Yunus and three others.
The High Court bench of Justice S M Kuddus Zaman and Justice Fahmida Quader passed the order after hearing the rule.
Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun appeared in the case hearing on behalf of the Prof Yunus, while Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the plaintiff, the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE).
Abdullah Al Mamun said, they will file appeal against the High Court order.
Inspector of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, Arifuzzaman, filed the case with Dhaka 3rd Labour Court on 9 September in 2021 against four people including Prof Muhamamd Yunus for allegedly violating the labour law.
The other accused in the case are- Grameen Telecom Managing Director Ashraful Hassan, Directors Nurjahan Begum and Md Shahjahan.
After hearing the case, the Labour Court had also summoned the four to appear before it on October 12 in 2021. Later the Labour Court granted bail to Dr Yunus in the case on that day.
According to the case documents, a team of DIFE went on an inspection to Grameen Telecom and found the violations of labour laws like not regularizing 101 staff, not establishing a welfare fund for the labourers, among others.
Following two criminal petitions the High Court bench of Justice Md Habibul Gani and Justice Md Riaz Uddin Khan on December 12 in 2021 stayed for six months the trial proceedings of the case.
It also issued a rule upon the concerned bodies of the government to explain as to why the respondents should not be directed to scrap the trial proceedings of the case filed against the Prof Yunus and three others on charge of violating labour law.
Later the state filed two leave to appeal petitions against the High Court order and after hearing the petitions, the apex court on June 13 stayed for two months the trial proceedings of the case. It also asked the High Court to hear and dispose of the rule issued in this regard within two months.
DIFE counsel Khurshid Alam Khan on July 20 filed an application with the High Court bench headed by Justice S M Kuddus Zaman for expeditious hearing on the rule. After hearing on the rule the court on Wednesday passed the order.
