The High Court on Monday stayed a Labour Appellate Tribunal order that had stayed the effectiveness of the jail sentence awarded to Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus and three others in a Labour Law violation case, until disposal of the appeal petition.

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Ebadoth Hossain passed the order saying the conviction could not be suspended.

Declaring the verdict of the Labour Appellate Tribunal illegal, it also stayed the effectiveness of the jail sentence and fine till disposal of the appeal petition filed by Dr Muhammad Yunus.

Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun stood for Dr Yunus while Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments.

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A petition was filed with the High Court against the Labour Appellate Tribunal’s order on February 4.

Besides, the petition was also filed seeking a bar on traveling abroad without the permission of the court.

Earlier the Labour Appellate Tribunal on January 28 granted bail to Dr Yunus and three others in the case.

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Chairman of Labour Appellate Tribunal MA Awal stayed the punishment of the Nobel laureate and three others and fixed March 3 for next hearing.

On January 1, Dhaka 3rd Labour Court Judge Sheikh Merin Sultana sentenced Dr Yunus and three top officials of Grameen Telecom to six months’ jail in a case over violation of labour law.

The court also fined them Tk 30,000 each.

The other convicts were-- Ashraful Hasan, CEO of Grameen Telecom Trust; trustee Nurjahan Begum; and managing director M Shahjahan.

On September 9, 2021, Labour Inspector Arifuzzaman, of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, filed the case with Dhaka’s 3rd Labour Court.

On June 6, 2023, Dhaka Labor Court-3 framed charges against the four accused.



Dr Yunus and the three others filed a petition challenging the legality of the charge framing and seeking a stay order on trial proceedings in the case.

The High Court on July 23 last year issued a rule asking the government to explain as to why the indictment order against the four should not be scrapped.

On August 3, the Appellate Division directed the High Court to dispose of the rule questioning the charge framing against Dr Yunus and others by the lower court in the case.

According to the case, during an inspection visit to Grameen Telecom, inspectors of the department found that 101 workers and staff members who were supposed to be permanent were not made so.

No participation fund and welfare fund was formed for them and five percent of the company’s profit was not provided to the workers following the law. Upon a complaint, a criminal case was filed under sections 4, 7, 8, 117, 234 of the Labour Act.