The High Court issues a rule over a likely investigation into the receipt of huge legal fees by apex-court lawyer Yousuf Ali from 176 clients in the cases filed against Grameen Telecom.
It asks the respondents to explain in four weeks as to why they should not be directed to initiate and conduct a fair and impartial inquiry into the recent controversy surrounding Tk 120-million fees.
On Thursday, the HC bench of Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury and Justice Md Zakir Hossain passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by another Supreme Court (SC) lawyer.
Law secretary, Bangladesh Bar Council chairman and secretary, and lawyer Ali have been asked to comply with the rule, says barrister Ashraful Islam who filed the petition on Wednesday.
"Client may be huge properties or interest involved in the case but lawyers are not entitled to calculate these value to incur their legal fees rather every lawyer will incur reasonable fees in regards their expertise of the particular matter and time involved."
Mr Ali, a counsel of the 'Grameen Telecom Union of Workers and Employees', has received a huge amount of money from his clients as service charge.
In a press briefing on July 03, Mr Ali said, "Tk 120 million is an imaginary figure. My clients have got a huge amount of money from Grameen Telecom in an out-of-court settlement. I also got a big amount from them."
The lawyer said he had at least 100 clients who got more than Tk 3.0 crore. They have paid him more than Tk 15-20 lakh as fees.
"All the fees I received from them through account payee cheques," Mr Ali claimed.
Meanwhile, a total of six bank accounts of Mr Ali and his chamber have been frozen after an allegation that he received more than Tk 120 million as fees.
The lawyer said, "I came to know that all my bank accounts have been frozen. I've three personal accounts. Two are my partner's accounts and one is my chamber's account… I had about Tk 2.25 crore in my chamber's account."
All the cases filed against Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus and his organisation Grameen Telecom had been withdrawn from different courts after the parties reached a out-of-court settlement over the claim of the employees.
More than 110 cases were filed against Dr Yunus and his organisation by the employees over their claim, said barrister Mustafizur who appeared in the HC hearing on behalf of Grameen Telecom.
While hearing the case on June 30, the HC bench of Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar said, "We've heard that the employees' lawyer was biased in exchange of money and the employees were forced to settle the case through compromise."
