TL;DR:
- Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus receives relief as High Court dismisses six cases against him, including five labor court cases and one defamation case from 2007.
- The defamation case originated from Dr Yunus’s controversial statement to foreign media about Bangladesh politicians being money-focused rather than ideological.
- Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayat Hossain’s bench ruled on October 24, stating the cases were filed without proper legal procedures and meant to harass.
- Three former Grameen Communications employees (Abdul Salam, Shah Alam, and Emranul Haq) filed labor cases after termination, while two others (Hossain Ahmed and Abdur Gafur) filed additional cases.
The High Court of Bangladesh has dismissed six cases against Nobel laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus, who currently serves as the chief adviser to the interim government. The dismissed cases include five labor court cases and a defamation suit dating back to 2007.
The High Court bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayat Hossain issued the ruling on October 24, with the verdict being made public on November 21, 2024.
The defamation case stemmed from a 2007 incident when Dr Yunus gave an interview to a foreign news agency stating that “Bangladesh politicians are only involved in politics for money, there is no ideology here.” Following this comment, Nazrul Islam Chunnu, joint secretary of Jasod in Mymensingh district, filed a defamation case on January 21, 2007.
The labor court cases were filed by former employees of Grameen Communications, including Abdul Salam, Shah Alam, and Emranul Haq, who had been recently terminated from their positions. Two additional cases were filed by Hossain Ahmed and Abdur Gafur in the same year.
Barrister Mostafizur Rahman Khan, Dr Yunus’s legal representative, explained that the court found these cases to be harassment attempts that wasted the court’s time. “These cases were filed without following proper legal procedures, which led to their dismissal,” Khan stated.
This ruling comes amid a series of legal challenges faced by the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Earlier this year, Dr Yunus was acquitted in a labor law violation case by the Labour Appeal Tribunal, overturning a six-month sentence imposed in January. However, he still faces other legal challenges, including an embezzlement case involving Grameen Telecom, where he and 13 others are accused of misappropriating approximately $2 million from the workers’ welfare fund.
The recent dismissal of these six cases marks a significant development in the ongoing legal proceedings against Dr Yunus, who has consistently maintained that the cases against him are politically motivated.
Source: TBS News
