Thaindian News

Dhaka, May 5 (IANS) Bangladesh’s Supreme Court Thursday dismissed two petitions challenging an order removing Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as managing director of Grameen Bank.

A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice A.B.M. Khairul Haque passed the order on conclusion of the hearing on the two petitions - one filed by Yunus and another by nine directors of Grameen Bank.

Yunus sought withdrawal of the apex court’s April 5 order that dismissed his leave-to-appeal petition against the High Court verdict upholding the Bangladesh Bank order removing him from the post.

The other petition was filed April 3 by nine Grameen Bank directors challenging the High Court verdict, Star Online, website of The Daily Star reported.

The Grameen model of rural credit to women has been replicated in many countries.

Yunus, 71, has been fighting a legal battle since early March when the central bank dismissed him as Grameen Bank managing director saying he had violated the organisation’s retirement rules.

Bangladesh Bank, the country’s central bank, had issued an order removing Yunus saying the rules governing the banking sector in the country require the CEO to retire at 60.

Some foreign governments and an influential group of international luminaries have demanded that the bank’s autonomy be sustained.

The Bangladesh government says it is not interfering with the bank’s wormking. It is only applying the rules governing the country’s banking sector, as Grameen is a scheduled bank.