Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq on Thursday (February 01, 2024) said the government is not harassing Noble Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus by filing false cases. “The government is not doing anything to harass Dr Muhammad Yunus. No false case is being filed against him. First a case was filed by workers and then the directorate responsible for protecting the rights of the workers filed a case.” He said this at a press conference on contemporary issues at the secretariat today. Read: 3 awarded life terms for 2015 murder in Cumilla  “Despite undisputable evidence, it is being spread abroad that the allegations against him (Yunus) are false, and it is being said that we are doing this to harass him,” said the minister. The minister said that the efforts being made at home and abroad to defame various institutions in Bangladesh centring on Yunus's case will be defeated. "As you know, according to the provisions of the Bangladesh Labour Act, an inspector can inspect any company if it is found that they are violating the law. In this case, on February 2, 2020, the inspector of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) first inspected Grameen Telecom as per the provisions of the Labour Act,” said Anisul. "He found out that some laws were being violated. Later, on March 1, he wrote a letter to Grameen Telecom seeking their explanation about these violations and asking them to correct those,” he said. Read: Take measures in preventing price hike of daily essentials: IGP  “Grameen Telecom's response was not satisfactory, and they (DIFE) inspected Grameen Telecom again on August 17, 2021. After seeing violations of the same law there, a letter was sent on August 19 stating that the law was being violated. In such a situation, a case was filed against Dr Yunus and Grameen Telecom on September 9,” added Anisul.

Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday (January 30, 2024) said what appeared on Washington Post regarding Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus was an advertisement, not a statement.  “Washington Post published it as an advertisement. That is an advertisement, not news. Clearly, it was done by a lobbyist firm,” he told reporters while responding to a question.  The Foreign Minister said the lobbyist firm also did the same in the past.  Read: Festivals like DIFF enhance country’s image globally: Dr Hasan Mahmud  He said Bangladesh’s judiciary is transparent and the government is not a party to Yunus’ case. Dr Hasan said the aggrieved people of Yunus’ organization filed the case and the trial is underway in a very transparent way. Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus on Sunday claimed that it was the government, not the workers of his company, who filed the labor law violation case against him. When his attention was drawn to the claim, the Foreign Minister on Monday said, “With due respect to him, I would like to say that what he said is not correct.” The minister said that the aggrieved workers of Yunus’ company filed the case as they were deprived of what they deserve. Read: Sheikh Hasina’s leadership is needed for a developed Bangladesh: Dr Hasan Mahmud More than 241 global leaders, including more than 125 Nobel laureates, expressed their concern over the “continuous judicial harassment and potential jailing” of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus in a third open letter to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. On January 1, 2024, Professor Yunus and three Grameen Telecom colleagues were convicted of labor law violations, sentenced to six months in jail, and given bail while appeals are considered. 

The High Court (HC) on Tuesday asked Supreme Court lawyer Yusuf Ali, who took Tk 26 crore as fees from the workers’ union of Grameen Telecom, to submit details of it.    The HC bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order after hearing the issue. The court directed Yusuf Ali to submit a clear report about the fees with an affidavit on Thursday. Lawyer Ahsanul Karim, Robiul Alam Budu, Sayeed Ahmed Raza and Anik R Haque stood for Yousuf Ali while lawyer Mostafizur Rahman Khan stood for Grameen Telecom. Yusuf Ali on behalf of ‘The Grameen Telecom union of workers and employees’ appeared in cases in different courts against Professor Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Telecom before the parties reached an out-of-court settlement over the claim of the employees. Earlier on Monday, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sent a letter to Grameen Telecom after starting an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of money. Read: ACC investigation into Grameen Telecom underway The ACC sent a letter on Sunday (July 31) asking for the information of four members of the board of directors of Grameen Telecom including Muhammad Yunus. On February 7 this year, the workers’ union of Grameen Telecom filed a petition to the High Court seeking its liquidation. Mahmud Hasan Feroz, secretary of the ‘Grameen Telecom union of workers and employees’ filed the petition on behalf of the members.      

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday sent a letter to Grameen Telecom after starting an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of money.  The ACC sent a letter on Sunday (July 31) asking for the information of four members of the board of directors of Grameen Telecom including Muhammad Yunus. Earlier, ACC Secretary Mahabub Hossain informed that the ACC has started an inquiry against the board of directors of Grameen Telecom. An inquiry committee has been formed to investigate the allegation, he added. Read: ACC to grill Shilpakala Academy DG on Jan 16 According to sources of ACC, ACC Director Syed Iqbal Hossain has been appointed as the supervising officer in the investigation committee while deputy director Gulshan Anwar Pradhan has been made the team head and the other members are assistant director Jasmine Akhtar and Noore Alam Siddiqui. Alongside, the four members of the board of directors have been asked to know various information.  The ACC is investigating the charges against them, including misappropriation of 5 percent of the dividend reserved for distribution among workers, illegal deduction of 6 percent as advocate fees and other fees while paying workers' dues, interest allocated to workers' welfare fund, embezzlement of Tk 45 crore 52 lakh 13 thousand without distribution and embezzlement by transfer of Tk 2977 crore from the company to the bank accounts of various subsidiaries for the purpose of money laundering.

The workers’ union of Grameen Telecom, a company owned by Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus , filed a petition to the High Court on Monday seeking its liquidation. Mahmud Hasan Feroz, secretary of the ‘Grameen Telecom union of workers and employees’ filed the petition on behalf of the members. HC bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar set April 3 to pass an order in this regard during hearing the petition, said Advocate M Yusuf Ali, petitioner’s lawyer. Lawyer Yusuf said, according to labour law workers are supposed to get 5 per cent of the organisation’s profit and Grameen Telecom owes more than 2.5 billion to its workers now. But the company has not paid it and appointed a lobbyist to avoid it forcing the workers to seek liquidation of the company, he said. Also read: HC stays labour law violation case against Dr Yunus for 6 months The petition also appealed to the High Court to appoint a liquidator for the company, he added. A section of workers has long been agitating against lay-offs from Grameen Telecom. In a notice signed by the company’s Managing Director Mohammad Ashraful Hasan a total of 99 workers were laid off at once without any prior conversation with the workers and employee’s union. The High Court summoned Dr Yunus in this regard after 28 of the discharged workers filed a petition against that notice. On April 4, 2021, the court directed the company to reappoint those workers. On September 12, last year, Labour Inspector Arifuzzaman of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments filed a case with Dhaka third labour court against Dr Yunus and three others for violating labour laws. Also read: BFIU seeks Dr. Yunus’ bank account details Other accused in the case are Ashraful Hasan, Managing Director of Grameen Telecom, it's director Nurzahan Begum and Shahjahan. According to the case complaint, in an inspection visit to Grameen Telecom inspectors of the department found that 101 workers and staff who were supposed to be permanent were not made so. No participation fund and welfare fund was formed for them and five per cent of the company’s profit was not provided to the workers following the law. Upon the complaint a criminal case was filed under section 4,7,8, 117, 234 of the Labour Act. On October 12, the labour court granted bail to the all four accused. Later on December 7, Dr Yunus filed a petition with the High Court seeking dropping of the case.

Grameen Telecom has so far distributed 1 million and 20 thousand free non-medical masks as people are stepping out of their homes for various reasons. 

Grameen Telecom has provided 4,300 high-quality PPE gowns, 10,000 KN-95 masks, 2,050 protective goggles and 10,000 hand-gloves to eight more hospitals to ensure safety of the doctors, nurses and health workers providing medical services to corona virus patients in the city. 

Grameen Telecom has distributed healthcare equipment to hospitals dedicated to treatment of COVID-19 patients in the capital and seven divisional cities.   The company has so far provided 5,500 high quality PPEs (gowns), 16,500 KN-95 masks, 11,000 hand gloves and 990 protective goggles to 11 hospitals in seven divisional cities, said a press release.   These protective gears have been given for doctors, nurses and other health workers who are treating patients infected with coronavirus.

Grameen Telecom has provided personal protective equipment (PPE), disposable medical masks and K N95 masks to police, Army and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

Grameen Telecom has said it is providing 1 million cloth masks free of cost to  underprivileged people and those who cannot afford to buy any masks.