The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has dismissed two petitions by Dr. Muhammad Yunus and his loyalists to reverse a High Court judgment on his sacking from the position of Managing Director of the Grameen Bank.
A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice A.B.M. Khairul Haque passed the order on Thursday, ending the legal battle.
The apex court earlier ended simultaneous hearings on the two petitions — one by Dr. Yunus and the other by nine directors of the Bank. In delivering its verdict, the court observed the recall petition was filed “out of misconception”.
Dr. Yunus (71) had been fighting the legal battle since early March when the central bank dismissed him as Grameen Bank managing director claiming he had violated the bank's retirement rules.
Immediately after Thursday's verdict, which has exhausted Dr. Yunus' legal options to retain his position, the nine pro-Yunus directors of the bank appealed to the government to appoint Dr. Yunus as chairman of the bank. But Attorney-General Mahbubey Alam told reporters it was not possible “because the Grameen Bank chairman is appointed from among the state nominated ones from the bank's board of directors”.