HC to hear Prof Yunus' petitions July 30, Aug 16 and 20

The High Court has fixed new dates for hearing on five writ petitions and eight income-tax references filed by two organisations owned by Nobel Laureate Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus against an income tax claim of around Tk11 billion by the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
The High Court bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir on Sunday set July 30, August 16 and 20 for hearing on the petitions.
Earlier on June 5, the High Court bench of Justice Md Iqbal Kabir and Justice SM Maniruzzaman refused to continue hearing on the petitions.
The HC bench said it cannot continue the hearing as its junior judge had earlier appeared in the hearing of the cases representing the state.
Later the documents of the cases were sent to Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique for further proceedings. The Chief Justice then sent the matters to the new HC bench.
The NBR has an income tax claim of around Tk 11 billion from Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom Trust-two organisations whose chairman is Prof Yunus, for the assessment years from 2012-2013 to 2016-2017.
Against the claim, authorities of the two organisations filed five writ petitions and eight 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 court extended the duration of the stay order.
Recently the Attorney General's office took an initiative to hold hearing on the rule issued in this regard.
Barrister Abudllah Al Mamun, a counsel for Prof Yunus, alleged that commissioner of taxes in Dhaka had illegally imposed the taxes.
"Besides, there are legal questions involved regarding the issues. Therefore, we have filed income tax references and writ petitions," he said.

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