No stay on Yunus-founded Grameen Kalyan’s Tk666cr tax

The chamber court of the Appellate Division has not stayed the High Court order directing Grameen Kalyan, a non-profit organisation founded by the former interim government’s chief adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, to pay Tk666 crore in taxes claimed by the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

Justice Farah Mahbub, sitting as the chamber judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, delivered the order on Monday after hearing a petition filed by Grameen Kalyan seeking a stay on the HC verdict. 

The development means the High Court verdict, delivered on 10 September, remains effective for now.

“The court said that it would not intervene in the case until the full judgment is released,” said Barrister Khaja Tanvir Ahmed, who represented Grameen Kalyan.

The High Court in its verdict ordered Grameen Kalyan to pay Tk666 crore in taxes. An HC bench had delivered the verdict, rejecting a rule issued in connection with two writ petitions filed by Grameen Kalyan in 2017.

According to the HC verdict, the NBR would issue a notice to Grameen Kalyan seeking Tk666 crore in income tax for the 2012-13 to 2016-17 tax years after receiving a certified copy of the verdict.

The dispute arose from an agreement between Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom under which Grameen Telecom would provide financial assistance to Grameen Kalyan. In return, Grameen Kalyan was to receive 42.50% of the profits earned by Grameen Telecom from dividends on its shares in Grameen Kalyan.

The NBR later reopened Grameen Kalyan’s tax file under Section 120 of the relevant law and found that tax had allegedly not been deducted at source on the profit received from Grameen Telecom.

Grameen Kalyan subsequently filed a revision petition before the Commissioner of Taxes and later challenged the matter before the High Court.

The case took an unusual turn after another HC bench recalled, on its own motion, a judgment concerning the Tk666 crore tax demand on 4 October 2024 following the July uprising. The case records were subsequently sent to the then chief justice and assigned to the new bench.

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