Dhaka, March 3 (IANS) The Dhaka High Court will on Sunday pronounce its verdict on the plea of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus challenging his removal as head of the Grameen Bank.
The High Court bench of Justices Muhammed Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed and Gobinda Chandra Tagore Thursday fixed the date after hearing the appeal of Yunus, bdnews24.com reported.
Yunus was relieved of his duties Wednesday by the Bangladesh Bank, which regulates the country’s banks.
The Bangladesh Bank said in its sacking letter that Yunus failed to seek the central bank’s approval when he was reappointed as the managing director of the Grameen Bank in 2000, violating one of the statutes of the 25 percent state-owned bank.
The Grameen Bank general manager (information and media) Jannat-E-Q-Quanine was quoted as saying: ‘According to the bank’s legal experts, founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is continuing in his office.’
The chairman of Grameen Bank Khondoker Muzammel Huq told bdnews24.com: ‘Recruitment of managing director is done by the board of directors. But Bangladesh Bank’s approval is necessary in this regard. The directive was not followed in his last reappointment.’
Grameen Bank, which was founded by Yunus in 1983, earned accolades for its efforts towards fighting poverty through micro-financing.
The bank now has 20,000 employees and 83.5 lakh customers. It has distributed 60,400 crore taka ($8,440 million) in loans as of January 2011. Its social business partnerships with global brands such as Adidas and Danone have secured employment for over 30,000 people.
