The Appellate Division has stayed a High Court order concerning the collection of over Tk666 crore in outstanding tax from Grameen Kalyan, an organisation founded by Muhammad Yunus.
Chamber Court of the Appellate Division, presided over by chamber judge Justice Md Rezaul Haque, passed the order following an application by Grameen Kalyan.
Chamber court stayed the High Court order pending the disposal of the appeal. Consequently, Grameen Kalyan is temporarily not required to pay the Tk666 crore tax demanded by National Board of Revenue (NBR).
The court has fixed 13 December for the hearing. In court, lawyer Abdullah Al Mamun conducted the hearing on behalf of the organisation.
On 10 September, a High Court bench comprising Justice Md Muziur Rahman Miah and Justice Rezaul Karim delivered a judgment dismissing two rules filed by Grameen Kalyan.
The verdict rejected two writ petitions of the organisation challenging the NBR order that reassessed and fixed income tax at Tk666 crore.
Earlier, on 4 August 2024, another High Court bench had dismissed the writ petitions filed on the matter.
That judgment was later withdrawn by the same High Court bench because the junior judge of the bench had previously served as a deputy attorney general representing the government in these cases.
As a result, the judgment was recalled and the case records were sent to the chief justice, who subsequently assigned the cases to a new bench for hearing.
Following reassessment, the tax demand was raised against the organisation for five tax years: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, and 2016–17. Grameen Kalyan filed two separate writ petitions in 2017 challenging the validity of this demand.
In 2024, the state side informed that the NBR had demanded over Tk 666 crore in tax from Grameen Kalyan for the five tax years. Following a primary hearing, the court issued rules, which were later discharged by the High Court.
Subsequently, on 14 September, the Chamber Court of the Appellate Division dropped a separate application by Grameen Kalyan seeking a stay on the High Court judgment from its cause list.
Muhammad Yunus was the chairman of Grameen Kalyan, but it is known that he has not been associated with the organisation since 2024.
