Dr Yunus gets bail in Grameen Telecom case

A Dhaka court today granted bail to Nobel laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus in a case filed over violating labour laws.

Dhaka Second Labour Court chairman passed the order upon Tk10,000 bail bond for each when four accused in the case surrendered before the court seeking bail.

On 9 September, Department of Inspection of Factories & Establishments Labour Inspector Tarikul Islam filed the case against four people, including Dr Yunus and three top officials of Grameen Telecom.

Later, the court summoned the four to appear before it on 12 September in the case.

The three others accused are - Grameen Telecom Managing Director Ashraful Hasan, the company's board director Nur Jahan Begum and Md Shahjahan.

According to the case statement, the Department of Inspection of Factories & Establishments Labour noticed some violations of labour laws during an inspection at the Grameen Telecom office. These include - 101 workers and employees were not made permanent, Workers' participation fund and welfare fund was not formed and 5% of the company's dividend was not distributed among workers.

On the basis of these allegations, Dr Yunus and four others were sued by the Department of Factories and Establishment under the code of criminal procedure.