The High Court on Thursday cleared the way for the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to realise Tk 1.19 billion in income tax from Grameen Kalyan, an organisation owned by Nobel Laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus.
The High Court (HC) rejected seven income tax references filed by Grameen Kalyan authorities against an income tax claim of around Tk 1.19 billion by the revenue board.
The HC bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir delivered the verdict after holding a hearing on the income tax references.
Lawyer Sarder Jinnat Ali appeared in the court hearing on behalf of Grameen Kalyan, while Assistant Attorney General Tahmina Polly represented the state.
Later, Tahmina Polly said Prof Yunus has to pay Tk 1.9 billion as the HC has rejected the reference petitions.
Lawyer Jinnat Ali said he would take further action regarding the order after consulting with his client. If the party doesn't file any appeal against the HC verdict, then they will have to pay the amount claimed by the NBR.
Prof Yunus is the chairman of Grameen Kalyan. The National Board of Revenue had an income tax claim of around Tk 5.55 billion from this organisation for the assessment years from 2011-2012 to 2016-2017.
Later, Grameen Kalyan paid Tk 4.36 billion as income tax, reducing the NBR tax claim to Tk 1.19 billion. Against this claim, authorities of the Grameen Kalyan filed seven income tax references with the HC.
After a primary hearing, the HC issued a rule and stayed the effectiveness of the notices claiming the income tax amount for an interim period. Later, the HC extended the stay order.
The Attorney General's office took the initiative last year to hold a hearing on the rule issued in this regard. Upon hearing the rule, the HC bench rejected the references.
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