Case against Dr Yunus
Judge leaves court amid chaos
FE REPORT | Thursday, 12 October 2023
Heated conversations took place between the lawyers of the defence and prosecution in the case filed against Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and three others on charge of violating labour law.
The situation caused the judge to leave the courtroom, resulting in an 80-minute break in proceedings.
Third Labour Court Judge Sheikh Merina Sultana started proceedings of the cross examination of prosecution witness Tariqul Islam at 12:55 pm on Wednesday.
He left the courtroom around 1:40 pm following a heated exchange between the prosecution and defence, said barrister Abdullah Al Mamun, a counsel for Prof Yunus.
The lawyer said the trial proceedings resumed at 3:00 pm and ended for the day around 4:15 pm.
The court completed the cross examination of first prosecution witness Tariqul Islam on Wednesday and fixed October 18 for further proceedings in the case.
Barrister Mamun said, "The complainant mentioned about 67 workers of Grameen Telecom office. However, there are only nine of them are workers, and the rest are officials. We made objection over the information."
Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan, a lawyer for the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), said, "It doesn't matter whether they are officials or workers. Matter is whether the law was violated or not?"
Actually, they (defence) are trying lingering the case, alleged the DIFE lawyer.
Prof Yunus, also chairman of Grameen Telecom, did not appear before the court on the day. However, he was represented by his lawyer.
On June 06, the same court framed charge against the accused, including Dr Yunus, in the case filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments for allegedly violating the labour law.
The other accused in the case are Grameen Telecom managing director Ashraful Hassan, and directors Nurjahan Begum and Md Shahjahan.
Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments inspector Arifuzzaman filed the case with the court on 09 September 2021 against four people, including Dr Yunus.
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