HC hearing Yunus’ petition
Prof Muhammad YunusStar Online Report
Hearing on Muhammad Yunus’ writ petition challenging the legality of a central bank order removing him as managing director (MD) of Grameen Bank is in progress at the High Court.
The hearing began at 2:00pm at the HC bench of Justice Momtaz Uddin Ahmed and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore.
The same bench earlier allowed the microcredit pioneer to file a supplementary petition to submit more information on the same matter.
Pending the hearing on his writ petition challenging the legality of his removal, the High Court heard the supplementary petition first.
Earlier, while counsels of the petitioner and defendants, lawyers and journalists were waiting for the hearing to begin at 11:00am, Deputy Attorney General Karunamoy Chakma told the Daily Star that Justice Momtaz Uddin Ahmed informed him that the hearing on the petition would begin at 2:00pm.
Justice Momtaz quoted Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore to be saying that he could not reach the court on time as he was caught in traffic jam.
Dr Yunus reached the court premises at around 9:00am, our correspondent covering the development reported from the High Court.
Yunus was unceremoniously relieved of his duties on Wednesday through a Bangladesh Bank letter sent to Grameen Bank Chairman Khondoker Muzammel Huq.
The central bank said Yunus failed to seek its approval when he was reappointed as the managing director in 2000, violating one of the statutes of the partly state-owned Grameen Bank.
Grameen however maintained that his position was legal.
Prof Yunus on Thursday filed a writ petition challenging the central bank order that removed him from the post of Grameen Bank MD as the wider international community showed its displeasure at the way the Nobel Prize winner for Bangladesh was treated.
The bench on Thursday fixed Sunday for giving order on Yunus' petition.
With Yunus’ forced exit, the microfinance institution's journey of over 30 years enters a different stage. He had started his lone campaign to provide loans to the poor, who had always been overlooked by the traditional banks, from his home village of Jobra in Chittagong. Defeating all sceptics, he not only proved that the poor are bankable, but he could turn it into an international movement. Countries across the world, including the USA, China, and India embraced his model of microfinance.
Foreign diplomats in Bangladesh sharply reacted to the government's move and none of them took it positively. They said they never thought that the government could make such an extreme move against an internationally reputed personality like Yunus.
US Ambassador to Bangladesh in Dhaka James Moriarty on Thursday said the United States is deeply troubled by the government removing Yunus from Grameen Bank and termed it “an unusual way to handle a Nobel Laureate”.
The government move surprised many of Grameen’s borrowers, who dubbed him the pathfinder in elevating them from poverty.
Economists with huge policy-making experience denounced the way the government decided to remove Yunus from the Nobel Prize winning Grameen Bank.
‘Friends of Grameen’, a newly established group headed by Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, who denounced the ‘new attempt of destablisation against Professor Yunus’ also expressed concern.
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