Dr Yunus gets bail in labour case

The Labour Appellate Tribunal granted bail to Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and three other top officials of Grameen Telecom on Sunday (January 28). The four filed an appeal with the Labour Appellate Tribunal against a Dhaka Labour Court verdict in a labour law violations case. Prof Yunus's lawyer Abdullah-Al-Mamun confirmed the matter.

Earlier, Abdullah-Al-Mamun said, "The four including Yunus did not have to go to jail even though they were sentenced. The judge granted them bail for one month on the condition of appeal."

On January 1, Sheikh Merina Sultana, chairman of the Third Labour Court of Dhaka, sentenced Yunus, chairman of Grameen Telecom, and its directors Ashraful Hassan, Nurjahan Begum and M Shahjahan to six months in jail in a case. Soon after the verdict, the court granted bail to all four for a month, following separate bail pleas.

According to the affidavit of the case, officials of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments visited Grameen Telecom. They came to know about the violation of labour laws during the visit. Among them, 101 workers were supposed to be made permanent, but they were not made permanent. Workers' Participation Fund and Welfare Fund have not been constituted. Apart from this, 5 percent of the company's dividend was supposed to be given to the workers, but it was not given."