High Court: Dr Yunus must take court’s permission before going abroad
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A rule issued questioning the legality of the tribunal's order that stayed conviction
The High Court on Monday ordered that Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and three other Grameen Telecom officials must inform the Labour Appellate Tribunal before going abroad.
A High Court bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Ebadoth Hossain passed the order after a hearing of a writ petition in this regard.
At the same time, the court issued a rule questioning the legality of the tribunal's order that stayed the conviction and sentence of Yunus and the three officials.
The High Court sought an explanation why the Labour Appellate Tribunal's stay order should not be declared illegal.
The bench also halted the stay order till disposal of the rule.
The High Court said as the four accused are on bail, their sentences will remain suspended until their appeals are disposed of.
Three others accused are directors Ashraful Hassan, Nurjahan Begum, and M Shahjahan.
The bench issued the rule and order following the petition filed on Sunday.
At the same time, an application was made in the petition so that Dr Yunus could not go abroad without the court's permission.
Advocate Md Khurshid Alam Khan, on behalf of the Department of Factories and Establishments, filed the petition with the concerned branch of the High Court on Sunday.
On January 1, Dhaka Labour Court-3 sentenced Grameen Telecom Chairman Dr Yunus and three of its senior officials to six months in jail and fined each Tk30,000.
The court also granted Dr Yunus a month's bail on condition of filing an appeal against the verdict of the court. After filing of the appeal, the Labour Appeal Tribunal, on 28 January, granted bail to Dr Yunus and three others.
On September 9, 2021, a case was filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment against Dr Muhammad Yunus and three others for violating labour laws.
According to case files, the department noticed several labour law violations during an inspection at Grameen Telecom.
The violations include failing to permanent the jobs of 101 workers and employees, not forming a workers' participation fund and welfare fund, and failing to provide 5% of the company's dividend to workers.