Labour law violation: Yunus to file appeal challenging verdict tomorrow

Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and three other top officials of Grameen Telecom will file an appeal with the Labour Appellate Tribunal against the verdict of labour law violations case by a Labour Court tomorrow.

On January 1, Sheikh Merina Sultana, chairman of the Third Labour Court of Dhaka, sentenced Dr Yunus, chairman of Grameen Telecom, and its directors Ashraful Hassan, Nurjahan Begum and M Shahjahan to six months in jail in a case.

"We will challenge the sentence at the Labour Appellate Tribunal tomorrow [Sunday]," Dr Yunus' lawyer Abdullah-Al-Mamun told The Daily Star today.

"We will submit a petition, containing 25 to 30 points against the sentence," he said.

Soon after the verdict on January 1, the court granted bail to all four for a month, following separate bail pleas.

The four were also fined Tk 30,000 each, in default of which they would have to serve 25 more days in prison.

The court also directed them to comply with the relevant sections of the Labour Act, 2006, within a month.

The sections of the labour law under which the case was filed carry a maximum of six months' imprisonment.

On September 9, 2021, Labour Inspector (General) SM Arifuzzaman filed the case against Yunus and the three others.

The court framed charges in the case on June 6 last year. It also recorded four prosecution witnesses.

According to the case documents, Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) officials inspected the Grameen Telecom office in the capital's Mirpur on August 16, 2021, and found several violations of labour laws there.