‘Dr Yunus never convicted of tax evasion’

The Yunus Centre has said Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus was never convicted of tax evasion and no such case against him exists. 

The Yunus Centre made the statement in a rejoinder following a news report of Bangladesh Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of Bangladesh Anisul Huq carried by Reuters on Tuesday. 

The rejoinder, which was issued on Wednesday, said the statement made by the law minister was “completely baseless and defamatory.”

“There was never a tax evasion case by the tax authority against Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus at any point in time. So the question of the Supreme Court giving any verdict on tax evasion by Professor Muhammad Yunus is totally fictitious.

“The reason that Professor Yunus went to court was to contest a legal point on a tax issue, whether a donation comes under income tax law (because the Tax authority imposed tax on his donation). The case went up to the Supreme Court,” the rejoinder adds. 

It further said: “The Supreme Court agreed with the tax authority and Professor Yunus paid the tax. That resolved the issue. Neither party in the case was ever talking about any tax evasion. The tax authority never went to court on any issue against Professor Yunus. It was Professor Yunus who went to the court to resolve a legal point.”

The Yunus Centre said that the law minister misrepresented the case to the global media against a distinguished citizen of the country and the image of Bangladesh. 

On Tuesday, Anisul Huq told Reuters that taxes paid by Dr Yunus after the Supreme Court ruled against him in a tax-evasion case.