The tax demand relates to income tax for the 2012-13 through 2016-17 financial years.
A High Court bench led by Justice Md Mojibur Rahman Mia delivered the verdict on Thursday (September 10).
Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun and Barrister Fida M Kamal appeared for Dr Muhammad Yunus during the hearing.
According to the case records, Grameen Kalyan filed two separate writ petitions in 2017 challenging the validity of the NBR’s tax demands for the 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 tax years.
Following the initial hearings, the High Court had issued rules in the cases. After completing the final hearing on Thursday, the court discharged the rules, effectively upholding the NBR’s Tk 666 crore tax demand.
Advocate Khaja Tanvir, who represented Grameen Kalyan, told journalists after the verdict that the organisation’s writ petitions challenging the NBR’s tax claims had been dismissed by the court.
“As a result, the amount claimed by the NBR remains valid,” he said.
The case also has a wider legal background linked to proceedings following the July mass uprising. On October 4, a previous High Court bench comprising Justice Mohammad Khurshid Alam Sarker and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir had recalled an earlier judgment on its own initiative.
The matter was subsequently sent to the newly constituted bench through the Chief Justice for reconsideration. Thursday’s verdict was delivered following the final hearing.
The ruling means the NBR’s Tk 666 crore tax claim against Grameen Kalyan remains legally enforceable, subject to any further legal remedies available to the organisation.
