Conviction of Dr Yunus, his peers remains effective: HC

The High Court (HC) on Monday cleared that the conviction issued against Nobel laureate Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus and three others will remain effective until the disposal of their appeal.
However, other parts of the labour court verdict in a labour law violation case like sentence, fines and execution order will remain stayed, according to the HC.
The HC declared illegal an order of the Labour Appellate Tribunal in Dhaka that on January 28 suspended conviction and sentence of Dr Yunus and others.
The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Ebadoth Hossain delivered the verdict after hearing a revision petition filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE).
In the verdict, the HC said the conviction issued against four persons, including Prof Yunus, will remain effective until the disposal of their appeal.
Their sentenced will remain stayed as long as they (the four accused) are on bail.
The HC further said that fines imposed by the labour court and the executable direction of the judgment would remain suspended pending disposal of the appeal.
The appellate tribunal has been asked to dispose of the appeal as early as possible. If an accused goes abroad, they should inform the court concerned, according to the verdict.
The Third Labour Court in Dhaka on January 01 sentenced Dr Yunus and three officials of the Grameen Telecom to six months' imprisonment on charges of violating the labour law.
The court also fined each accused Tk 30,000.
The other accused in the case are Grameen Telecom managing director Ashraful Hassan and directors Nurjahan Begum and Md Shahjahan.
Later, Dr Yunus and others filed an appeal petition with Labour Appellate Tribunal against the verdict.
Md Abdul Awal, acting chairman of the Labour Appellate Tribunal, admitted the appeal on that day and suspended the total verdict given by the labour court.
In the circumstances, the DIFE filed a revision petition with the HC challenging the tribunal's order in the case.
The HC on February 05 issued a rule following the plea.
It wanted to know from the respondents to explain as to why the tribunal's order on January 28 suspending the conviction and sentence of them should not be scrapped.
Upon running a hearing on the rule on Monday, the HC bench declared it absolute.
Lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan appeared in the court on behalf of the DIFE, while barristers Abdullah Al Mamun and Khaja Tanvir Ahmed represented the state.
Mr Khan said, "A verdict of a criminal case has two parts - conviction and sentence. Conviction cannot be suspended and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has given a decision regarding the issue."
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