The Labour Appellate Tribunal in Dhaka extended the bail of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus in a case filed over violation of labour law.

The tribunal also set April 16 as the next date of hearing on the appeal filed by Yunus and three others against a labour court's sentence in the case, sources at the court said.

Earlier, they appeared before the Labour Appellate Tribunal in Bijaynagar area of Paltan at 10:47am to file an appeal for the extension of his bail in the case.

Many foreign observers also entered the court.

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After emerging from the tribunal, Yunus said, "We all want the country's welfare. Everyone wants to be engaged in work for the country. We have to spend time dealing with various legal issues, which harms us, harms everyone. However, let the legal process continue, and in the meantime we want to be able to work in peace."

He further said, "I hope I will get justice. I will get justice from the judiciary of the country -- this is the desire of a citizen of the country."

In response to a journalist's query, Yunus said, "Time is being wasted, and we have had to be occupied. We could have done other work during this time. It's now time to work. We could have engaged everyone in this work. It hurts us, [and] it hampers our work. We want to overcome this.

"Pray for us. We will be at peace if the country is at peace," he said.

On January 1, Yunus and three other top officials of Grameen Telecom were sentenced to six months' imprisonment in the case.