HC bench refuses to continue hearing on Prof Yunus’ petitions

A High Court bench on Monday refused to continue the hearing on some petitions filed by two organisations founded by Nobel Laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus against an income tax claim of around Tk 11 billion by the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

The High Court bench of Justice Md Iqbal Kabir and Justice S M Maniruzzaman said that it cannot continue the hearing on the petitions as its junior judge earlier appeared in the hearing of the cases representing the state.

Later, the documents of the cases were sent to Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique for further proceedings.

Earlier in the last month, the High Court bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam refused to hear the cases, and also dropped them from the cause-list.

Prof Yunus is the Chairman of Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom Trust. The National Board of Revenue has an income tax claim of around Tk 11 billion from these two organisations for the assessment years from 2012-2013 to 2016-2017.

Against this claim, authorities of the Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom Trust filed some writ petitions and income tax references with the High Court. After a primary hearing, the High Court issued a rule and stayed the effectiveness of the notices claiming the income tax for an interim period. Later, the HC extended the duration of the stay order.

Recently the Attorney General office took an initiative to hold hearing on the rule issued in this regard.

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin appeared in the court hearing representing the state, while lawyer Fida M Kamal appeared for Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom Trust.

In a briefing, the Attorney General said the High Court has given special importance on the cases related to income tax, VAT and customs to get out of a perception that a lot of revenue is stuck because of the High Court orders.

[email protected]