The Labour Appellate Tribunal on Thursday extended bail of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and three directors of Grameen Telecom till July 4 in a case of labour law violation.

The tribunal chairman in-charge MA Awal passed the order responding to the Nobel Laureate’s prayer, his lawyer Abdullah-Al-Mamun said.

The tribunal also set July 4 for hearing the appeal filed by Yunus and three Grameen Telecom directors against a labour court’s sentence in the case.

Grameen Telecom chairman Professor Yunus and his three officials of the company appeared before the tribunal at about 11:00am and filed the petition seeking extension of their bail.

Yunus, who is facing more than 170 cases, was sentenced on January 1 this year to six months in jail by the Third Dhaka Labour Court in a case filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments for violating the labour law at Grameen Telecom.

Later, he filed an appeal with the Labour Appellate Tribunal, challenging the verdict.

The 83-year-old, Yunus, known internationally as the ‘banker to the poor’, is credited with establishing a pioneering system of micro-finance loans that lifted millions out of poverty.

Yunus and his Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their pioneering work in 2006.