Dhaka: The counsel for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Asif Hasan, stated today that the graft case filed in 2023 against seven individuals, including Chief Adviser Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, was solely intended to harass the Nobel laureate without just cause.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Hasan expressed his views to the media after the apex court quashed the proceedings of the graft case involving Dr. Yunus and six others. He emphasized that there were no criminal liabilities involved and that the case was unwarranted. “This case should not have been filed against Dr. Yunus. There were no materials of criminal liabilities. It was completely unnecessary harassment of a Nobel laureate,” Hasan remarked.
He further elaborated that the case was essentially a matter of calculation and should have been addressed in a civil court rather than as a criminal matter. Hasan clarified that no money laundering or embezzlement had occurred, as the full amount of money in question had been paid. “These types of cases were supposed to be dealt at a civil court. No money laundering or embezzlement cases can be filed here. In addition, no money was embezzled here, because, full money was paid. So, there is no criminal liabilities,” he added.
The decision to quash the case was made by a four-member apex court bench led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed. The judgment came in response to an appeal filed by Dr. Yunus and six officials from Grameen Telecom against a High Court order that had dismissed their plea to cancel the graft case proceedings.
The six other individuals involved in the appeal alongside Dr. Yunus were Grameen Telecom Managing Director Nazmul Islam, Directors Ashraful Hasan, Naznin Sultana, Md Shahjahan, Nurjahan Begum, and Professor SM Huzzatul Islam Latifee.