SC lawyer of Grameen Telecom case: SC lawyer asked to clarify huge amount of fees
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The High Court has asked a Supreme Court lawyer who took Tk 260 million as fees from his clients to submit details of it.
The High Court bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order on Tuesday after hearing the issue.
The lawyer might have taken the fee using the court’s name, hinted at the HC bench.
The court said, “Clear it with an affidavit so that people do not have the slightest doubt about the higher judiciary of the country. What is there to hide the fees you received as a lawyer? Clearly state in an affidavit how much fee you have taken. Also, clarify whether there is any involvement of the court.”
Earlier on June 30, the same HC bench directed the parties to submit a statement jointly regarding the due payments of the employees of Grameen Telecom, an organisation owned by Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.
The court at the same time asked the parties to submit the relevant documents of the dealings in the court before August 2 in 2022.
An allegation was also raised at that time that the case filed against Grameen Telecom was settled through compromise in exchange of giving Tk 120 million to the petitioners’ lawyer, Yousuf Ali.
During the hearing on Thursday, the High Court bench of Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar said, “We have heard that the employees' lawyer was biased in exchange of money and the employees were forced to settle the case through compromise.”
The High Court also said, "There should not be any irregularity by using the court. If everything is not in accordance with the law, the matter will be taken seriously. I don’t want to see the raising of any question about the integrity of the court and the lawyer.”
There is no lawyer, not only in Bangladesh but also in this subcontinent, who can take a fee of Tk 120 million in a case, the court also said expressing its wonder.
Complying with the court order both the parties of the Grameen Telecom case submitted details of the out-of-court settlement that took place between the organization and its former employees.
However, at one stage of the hearing, the court asked the lawyer how much fees he received from his clients. Then advocates told the court that lawyer Yousuf Ali received a total of Tk 260 million from his clients. Among the money, Tk 160 million is lawyer’s fees and Tk 100 million is for other charges.
The court then asked the lawyers of Yousuf Ali to give an affidavit within August 4 clarifying why the other fee is Tk 100 million.
The lawyers of the parties informed the court that they have reached in an out of court settlement with an amount of Tk 4.37 billion.
Yousuf Ali on behalf of ‘Grameen Telecom union of workers and employees’ appeared in 213 cases in different courts against Professor Muhammad Yunus and his organization Grameen Telecom before the parties reached in a out of court settlement over the claim of the employees, according to the affidavit submitted in the HC.