Muhammad Yunus acquitted in graft case

Dhaka: Muhammad Yunus was Sunday acquitted in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission over the misappropriation of funds from the Grameen Telecom Workers and Employees Welfare Fund, three days after he took oath as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, according to a media report.

Judge Md Rabiul Alam of the Special Judge’s Court-4 of Dhaka gave the order after accepting the graft agency’s application, seeking to withdraw the case under the Code of Criminal Procedure, an official of the anti-graft agency was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper.

On August 7, the Labour Appellate Tribunal acquitted the Nobel laureate and three top officials of Grameen Telecom - Ashraful Hassan, M Shahjahan and Nurjahan Begum - in a labour law violation case in which they were sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and fined Tk 30,000 each in January.

Yunus, the 84-year-old economist, on Thursday took oath as the interim government’s chief adviser - a position equivalent to the prime minister.

Nurjahan Begum, who was also an accused in the graft case, is a member of the 16-member Council of Advisers, which will assist Yunus in running the state’s affairs.