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DHAKA: Grameen Kalyan, an organisation owned by Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, must pay Tk 666 crore in taxes claimed by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), according to the full text of a High Court verdict directing the organisation to settle the amount within the next three fiscal years.
The full verdict was published on Monday, October 12, after Justices Md Mojibur Rahman Mia and Rezaul Karim of the High Court signed the judgment, according to relevant sources.
On September 10, the High Court dismissed two writ petitions filed by Grameen Kalyan, clearing the legal way for the NBR to pursue recovery of the disputed tax.
According to case records, the NBR raised the tax demand following a reassessment of the organisation’s income tax for five assessment years, from 2012-13 to 2016-17.
Grameen Kalyan challenged the legality of the demand by filing two separate writ petitions with the High Court in 2017. The court initially issued rules following preliminary hearings, but a newly constituted High Court bench later discharged the rules, upholding the NBR’s tax claim.
Following the verdict, Grameen Kalyan’s lawyer, Khaja Tanvir, told the media that the organisation had approached the High Court to challenge the legality of the NBR’s demand. With the court discharging the rules, the tax demand remains in force, he said.
Earlier, on October 4, 2024, a High Court verdict concerning the recovery of the NBR’s Tk 666 crore tax demand from Grameen Kalyan was recalled suo motu. The case was subsequently referred to a new bench, which heard the matter and dismissed the organisation’s writ petitions.
Publication of the full judgment sets out the court’s detailed decision in the long-running tax dispute between Grameen Kalyan and the NBR.