Hearing on Yunus petition adjourned

Hearing on Muhammad Yunus' supplementary petition filed with the High Court about his removal from the office of the Managing Director (MD) of Grameen Bank (GB) has been adjourned until Monday, reports bdnews24.com. The High Court was hearing the supplementary petition on Sunday, pending the writ petition filed earlier by him, challenging the legality of the order of Bangladesh Bank last Wednesday removing him from Grameen Bank. His counsels said Yunus had actually wanted to quit his position as the GB's MD and the finance minister was informed about it through a letter addressed to him. The supplementary petition was filed with the bench of justices Muhammed Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed and Gobinda Chandra Tagore to bring it to the notice of the court, the counsels said. The bench heard the petition in two sessions -- first, from 11:30am to 12:10pm and second, from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm. The same bench last Thursday, following a hearing on the original writ petition, had fixed Sunday for issuing its order. In the first session, Yunus' counsel Mahmudul Islam said the Bangladesh Bank apparently recognised Yunus by carrying out activities with him since 1999. During the hearing, Mahmudul said, "There was no need for seeking fresh permission for the appointment of Yunus because the Grameen Bank Service Rule-1993 or Bangladesh Bank Regulation-2001, relating to the appointment of managing directors of banks are not applicable for Yunus as he got the appointment before that." "The laws passed after somebody's appointment cannot be applicable in his case," he told the court. The bench then asked, "If anybody is held after committing a theft a long time back, will his arrest be a fault?" Mahmudul replied, "If it is deemed true that his appointment was illegal, then it can be questioned whether Bangladesh Bank was asleep from 1999 to 2011." "During the period, the central bank carried out its activities with Yunus as its managing director and that indicates that he was accepted as the managing director," he said. According to him, the central bank had sent an objection at that time but fell silent after receiving a reply. "This proves that the Bangladesh Bank was satisfied with the reply," Yunus' counsel concluded. The central bank said Grameen Bank did not seek permission from it for the last appointment of Yunus. "So it's illegal." Chairman of the Grameen Bank board of directors Mozammel Haque said the central bank issued the order to remove Yunus for this reason. Finance minister A M A Muhith said there was no other way but to remove Yunus from his position. UNB adds: Employees, shareholders and well-wishers of Grameen Bank formed human chain in Bogra and Chandpur districts Saturday protesting the removal of Dr Muhammad Yunus, managing director of the Grameen Bank. In Bogra, the employees, beneficiaries and well-wishers of the bank formed a human chain at Satmatha of the town to protest Yunus' removal. They submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. In Chandpur, about 300 male and female members of the GB Employee Association formed a human chain at Shapath Chattar of the district town from 10am to 11am to protest the government decision. They also submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner and requested the government to rescind its decision.