Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, tipped to be the head of a proposed interim government, was on Wednesday acquitted by a labour tribunal in a labour law violation case.
A Dhaka tribunal acquitted Prof Yunus and three top officials of Grameen Telecom of a labour law violation case, his lawyer Khaja Tanvir Ahmed said. Chairman (in-charge) of the Labour Appellate Tribunal MA Awal delivered the
verdict a day before Yunus is likely to take over as the head of an interim government following the fall of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government in a student-led mass upheaval.
On January1, 2024, the Labour Court-3 of Dhaka sentenced Prof Yunus, also chairman of Grameen Telecom, and its directors Ashraful Hassan, M Shahjahan and Nurjahan Begum to six months’ imprisonment each for allegedly violating labour laws.
The four were also fined Tk 30,000 each, in default of which they would have to serve 25 more days in prison.
On January 28, Prof Yunus and his colleagues filed appeals with the Labour Appellate Tribunal against the labour court’s sentence.
On September 9, 2021, Labour Inspector (General) SM Arifuzzaman filed the case with the Labour Court-3 of Dhaka against the four.
