HC finds Dr Yunus guilty of tax evasion, orders him to pay over Tk12cr
The High Court has found Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus guilty of tax evasion and ordered him to pay over Tk12 crore to the National Board of Revenue.
A bench comprising Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Rashed Jahangir delivered the verdict, a first against Dr Yunus, following a hearing on charges of tax evasion from 2011 to 2013.
Earlier, Dr Yunus had contested the validity of the National Board of Revenue's notice that demanded around Tk15 crore tax on donations on 23 May.
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Attorney General AM Amin Uddin represented the state during the court proceedings while Barrister Mostafizur Rahman Khan appeared on behalf of Dr Yunus.
Another lawyer for Dr Yunus, Barrister Abdullah-Al-Mamun, told The Business Standard, "We will file an appeal against the High Court's verdict after getting the full text of it."
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin told reporters that Dr Yunus had claimed tax exemption based on donations made. However, the state argued that the donations did not qualify for the mentioned exemptions.
"He has to pay donation tax. The court has considered our arguments," he added.
As per court dockets, the NBR had issued a notice to Dr Yunus under the Donations Tax Act, 1990, for around Tk12.28 crore as tax related to donations amounting to Tk61.57 core during 2011-2012.
Similarly, the revenue authorities issued another notice for the tax year 2012-2013, demanding some Tk1.60 crore in taxes against a donation of Tk8.15 crore.
Additionally, in the tax year 2013-2014, a notice was issued demanding about Tk1.50 crore From in taxes against a donation of some Tk7 crore.
Dr Yunus challenged the validity of these notices, asserting that the NBR lacked the authority to impose taxes on donations according to the existing law.
In 2014, the Taxes Appellate Tribunal dismissed Dr Yunus' appeal. Later, he filed three separate income tax reference cases with the High Court.
During the preliminary hearing of his case, the High Court issued a ruling in 2015 staying the notices issued by the National Board of Revenue. However, Wednesday's verdict has gone in favour of the revenue board.
Other cases against Dr Yunus
Currently, a case against Dr Yunus is going on in the labour tribunal of Dhaka for not appointing 101 Grameen Kalyan Trust workers as permanent employees.
When Dr Yunus filed a petition to scrap the trial proceedings in the case filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments in 2021, the High Court stayed the proceedings for six months. Later, the High Court rejected Dr Yunus' appeal.
When Dr Yunus appealed against the High Court's verdict regarding his petition, the Appellate Division dismissed it recently. As a result, there is no legal obstacle to proceeding with the case.
Besides, the High Court on 30 May this year stayed for six months a labour appellate tribunal order against Grameen Kalyan Trust. The tribunal ordered Grameen Kalyan Trust to pay a 5% dividend to its 106 sacked employees as per labour law.
Three separate writs filed by Dr Yunus in 2017 and 2020, challenging the National Board of Revenue's notices to Grameen Kalyan Trust and Grameen Telecom demanding about Tk1,100 crore income tax, are also pending before a High Court bench.
Last year, Dr Yunus' "non-profit" organisation Grameen Telecom agreed to pay Tk437 crore demanded by its employees after a five-year legal battle. Following the settlement, 176 Grameen Telecom employees withdrew 110 cases against him in May 2022.
Finally, the Anti-Corruption Commission on 30 May filed a case against Dr Yunus and 12 others over their alleged involvement in embezzling over Tk25 crore from the Grameen Telecom's Workers Profit Participation fund.
