The Appellate Division on Wednesday scrapped a lower court order to frame charges against Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and 13 others in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
A six-member bench, led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the defendants, challenging a High Court (HC) verdict.
The case was filed on May 30, 2023, by then ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anowar, accusing 14 people of misappropriating Tk 25.22 crore from the Employees Welfare Fund of Grameen Telecom.
The ACC approved charge submission on January 29 last year, with chargesheets formally submitted to a Dhaka court on February 1.
On June 8, the court ordered the framing of charges and scheduled a hearing for July 15.
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On July 8, Dr Yunus and others petitioned the HC to cancel the charge framing order, which was rejected on July 24.
Later, they filed a leave-to-appeal with the Appellate Division, which accepted the petition on October 21 and sought a concise statement.
Meanwhile, on August 11, the ACC submitted a plea to Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 seeking withdrawal of the case—just six days after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country amid a student-led mass uprising.