Appellate Division upholds HC dismissal of 2007 defamation case against Yunus in Mymensingh

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today (27 July) upheld a High Court verdict that disposed of a defamation case filed against Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in Mymensingh in 2007.

A three-member Appellate Division panel headed by Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury passed the order after disposing of a leave to appeal challenging the High Court verdict. 

During the hearing today, Additional Attorney General Aneek R Haque represented the state, while lawyer Towfiq Hossain stood for CA Yunus, at the courtroom. 

On 17 January 2007, Nobel laureate economist Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, said in an interview with a foreign news agency, "Bangladeshi politicians do politics solely for financial gains, where ideology holds no significance."

Angered by his remarks, then Joint Secretary of Mymensingh District Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) Nazrul Islam Chunnu filed a case against Muhammad Yunus, accusing him of making defaming comments, at a Mymensingh court on 21 January that year.

Four years after the case was filed, Yunus appeared in court and secured bail by filing a bond, having been summoned by Senior Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Habibullah of Mymensingh.

Later, in 2011, Yunus filed a plea with the High Court seeking cancellation of the case. The HC then issued a rule and on 24 October last year, it disposed of the case in a verdict. Later, a leave to appeal was filed against the HC verdict.