FAQ

Professor Muhammad Yunus, an esteemed Bangladeshi economist and Nobel laureate, was born on 28 June 1940 in Chittagong. He studied economics at Dhaka University, earned his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University, USA; and taught at Chittagong University, Bangladesh and Middle Tennessee State University, USA. He was the founding Managing Director of Grameen Bank and shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the Grameen Bank in 2006.

A common misconception about Prof. Yunus is that he pioneered microfinance in Bangladesh. In fact, Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan, the founding Director of the East Pakistan Academy for Rural Development which is now the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), introduced microcredit long before Grameen Bank was founded.

It is widely propagated that Prof. Yunus was forcibly removed from his position at Grameen Bank. However, this is not a fact. Bangladesh’s central bank in March 2011 removed him from the post of managing director of the Bank as he was 71 years old at the time, which exceeded the legal retirement age of 60. He challenged his removal in the Supreme Court which ruled against him, resulting in his resignation.

In February 2007, Prof. Yunus formed a political party called Nagorik Shakti (Citizen Power) to contest the upcoming election. However, he abandoned his efforts just three months later, citing a lack of public support.

As a non-politician with no political background, Prof. Yunus is not a viable political opponent in Bangladesh. In fact, he could not even launch a party due to a lack of public support.

The trial involving Prof. Yunus pertains to violating Bangladesh’s labour law and fake settlements, bribery, embezzlement, fraudulent activity, and money laundering.
On January 1, 2024, the trial against Prof. Yunus and others began at a labour court in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

• Grameen Telecom Workers: In 2017, the workers of Grameen Telecom filed 51 cases accusing Prof. Yunus and others of violating labour laws. Over the next six years, until 2023, the number of cases filed by the aggrieved workers of Grameen Telecom increased to 264.
• Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE): Since Grameen Telecom failed to address the concerns raised by its workers, the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), a statutory body under Labour Law 2006 that works independently with employers, workers, the government, and international organisations to ensure welfare and health and safety for employees and workers, conducted several investigations and filed seven cases against Prof. Yunus and others in the Labour Court between 2019 and 2021 to establish the workers’ rights.
• The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC): The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), an independent watchdog that investigates complaints of corruption and files lawsuits if allegations are true, filed cases against Prof. Yunus and 13 others in 2023 for illegal and suspicious transactions involving a hefty sum of money as a bribe.

The cases filed by Grameen Telecom and subsequently by DIFE include the following charges:
• Non-deposit of a particular dividend portion to the participation fund, welfare fund, and employee welfare foundation.
• Non-permanent employment of workers.
• Non-monetization of public holidays.

ACC initiated a case on 30 May 2023 at its Dhaka-1 integrated district office and filed charges against Prof. Yunus and 13 others on 1 February 2024 accusing them of misappropriating over Taka 25 crore from Grameen Telecom Workers' Profit Participation Welfare Fund. According to the case documents, Grameen Telecom opened a bank account at a private bank in Dhaka apparently after a decision taken at the company’s board meeting chaired by Prof. Yunus. The account was opened before the board meeting and was used to embezzle over Taka 25 crore.

Bangladesh's judiciary operates independently without government intervention. In addition, the law does not recognize the weight of the offender; rather, it establishes fundamental labour rights and combats any fraudulent or criminal activities to uphold the rule of law.

The DIFE CASE:
The prosecution of esteemed economist and Nobel laureate Prof. Yunus, Chair of Grameen Telecom (GTC), and three other senior officials resulted from a criminal case filed on 9 September 2021 under Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 (BLA 2006) by the DIFE, Dhaka after an investigation conducted by a DIFE inspector. The Inspector inspected the GTC on 9 February 2020 and found that GTC had been flouting specific provisions of the BLA 2006 and Labour Rules 2015, including failure of the company to regularise its workers’ employment and to constitute the Workers’ Participation Fund and Welfare Fund. The GTC also did not comply with the compulsory provisions of allocating 5% of its dividends among the workers, granting annual leave with pay to its employees and providing its employees with leave encashment facilities.
As per the law, DIFE served a notice to GTC on 1 March 2020 with suggestions to properly address the violations. GTC responded to the notice without taking any remedial measures. The DIFE inspector visited GTC again on 16 August 2021 and found that the malpractices were still going on. The inspector served another notice to GTC in August 2021, but the company's response was still unacceptable to DIFE, as it continued its unlawful practices. As a result, the inspector filed a case on 9 September 2021, with the Third Labour Court, Dhaka, for multiple breaches of the BLA 2006.
The accused persons, including Prof. Yunus, challenged the framing of charges in the High Court Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court. After hearing all sides, the High Court found that the charges were framed as per relevant laws and dismissed the petition. The accused persons subsequently filed another petition with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, which also dismissed the petition, upholding the framing of charges by the Labour Court. As a result, Prof. Yunus and three other top officials of the company were sentenced to six months in jail by a Labour Court in Dhaka on 1 January 2024. However, Professor Yunus was later granted bail pending an appeal. He subsequently filed an appeal under the Labour Appellate Tribunal, which also granted him bail.
The ACC CASE:
After an independent investigation by the anti-corruption watchdog ACC, which found evidence of corruption, an ACC investigation officer filed a case on 30 May 2023 at the ACC's integrated district office in Dhaka. The ACC approved the charge sheet against Prof Yunus and others on 29 January 2024. Following this, the investigation officer submitted the charge sheet to the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court of Dhaka on 1 February 2024. The court reviewed the charge sheet on 2 April 2024, accepted it, and sent the case to Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 for further proceedings.

Prof. Yunus has appointed a legal team to contest the cases filed against him by DIFE and ACC. The legal team is representing him and others in court, asserting that the allegations are baseless and untrue. They have been able to represent their client without any obstacles.

It is important to note that the cases against Prof Yunus and others in Bangladesh are not government cases. Cases filed by the government are prosecuted by the public prosecutor, attorney general, and solicitor wings of the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs. However, in these particular cases, none of these parties were involved, so it cannot be classified as a government case. Instead, seven lawsuits were filed against Grameen Telecom by the DIFE, and the remaining 264 cases are under workers vs. owner litigation.
Furthermore, it should be noted that under the provisions of the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006, which adheres to international norms and standards, hundreds of cases are filed each year against company owners if workers' rights or labour standards are violated. The case against the GTC Chair Prof Yunus and three other officials was just one of many cases filed in 2021, so as a case filed by the ACC.

As of 1 January 2024, a Labour Court in Dhaka convicted Prof. Yunus and others for alleged violations of the country’s Labour Act 2006. A six-month prison sentence was imposed on him and his three co-defendants. All of them have, however, been granted bail while the proceedings are pending.

At this stage, there are no definitive timelines for the trial's conclusion or potential outcomes because legal proceedings can be complex and unpredictable.

In the wake of the trial, Professor Yunus' work and reputation have come under scrutiny.