Court keeps plea against fixers of DIFE dockets

A labour court in Dhaka has kept in record a petition filed for taking cognizance of a criminal charge against DIFE officials for "tampering documents" of a case filed against Dr Muhammad Yunus.
Third Labour Court Judge Sheikh Merina Sultana on Wednesday said she passed the order on September 13.
However, the defence lawyers did not know about it till the proceedings of September 20.
The judge said she would dispose of the matter during the final hearing of the case.
However, Dr Yunus' two counsels Abdullah Al Mamun and Khaja Tanvir Ahmed are aggrieved with such an order.
Mr Tanvir said, "When an allegation of document tempering is made against a witness, an order must be passed on the application. But in this instance, the court has only kept the petition in record."
Khurshid Alam Khan, lawyer for the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), said defence lawyers raised unnecessary issues to delay the proceedings of the case.
Meanwhile, the cross-examination of Tariqul Islam, DIFE inspector and the first witness of the case, is continuing.
The court adjourned the questing till September 27.
The court allowed Nurjahan Begum, one of the accused of the case and also a director of Grameen Telecom, to appear in the case through her lawyer until her return from Umrah Hajj.
On June 06, the same court framed charges against the accused, including Dr Yunus, in the case filed by the DIFE for allegedly violating the labour law.
Others are Grameen Telecom managing director Ashraful Hassan, and directors Nurjahan Begum and Md Shahjahan.
DIFE inspector Arifuzzaman filed the case against them on 09 September 2021.

bikashju@gmail.com