Dr.Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel prize-winning development economist, appears to have lost his bitter battle with the Bangladeshi government for control of the pioneering microlender Grameen Bank, which he founded nearly three decades ago.
Bangladesh's chief justice, A.B.M. Khairul Haque, ruled out an appeal by Yunus against a decision last month by the central bank to ban him from continuing as a managing director, a post he has held since 2000.
"The appeal is dismissed," Haque told a crowded courtroom of the country's supreme court on Tuesday.
Dr.Yunus(70) did not appear in court but his legal team said they were surprised by the decision.
"The hearing was going well till the Tea break. We were hoping the order would be in our favour. But God knows what happened, after the Tea break the whole scenario changed," said barrister Rokonuddin Mahmud.
Despite the apparently final nature of the ruling against Dr.Muhammad Yunus, his team told they still hoped to find a legal avenue to continue the fight.
The decision was the climax of a long battle between the Grameen Bank's founder and the Bangladeshi government which has triggered statements of concern from diplomats and a range of international personalities including Mary Robinson, the former Irish president, and the American senator John Kerry.
Supporters claim the respected economist, who founded the Grameen Bank in 1983 after witnessing the suffering of rural people in a series of famines, is the victim of a political vendetta.
An outspoken government critic, Dr.Yunus has long had frosty relations with the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina. Reportedly angered by Yunus's attempt in 2007 to form his own political party, Hasina has accused Grameen Bank and other microfinance institutions of charging high interest rates and "sucking blood from the poor borrowers".
The microlending bank currently has nearly 9m borrowers in Bangladesh, 97% of whom are women. Without needing collateral to borrow, many use their small loans to make ends meet or to start small businesses.
Control of the bank would be a considerable political asset and a significant help in the cut-throat battle for power in the south Asian nation.
Bangladeshi economist Wahiduddin Mahmud said the court case was not just about a point of law. "At stake is an orderly changeover of the Grameen's leadership that can preserve the integrity of the institution and the confidence of its millions of poor members.
European supporters of Dr.Yunus have repeatedly said that the poor will suffer if its founder, who won the Nobel prize in 2006, is removed.
One factor helping the Bangladeshi government has been a more general loss of faith in microcredit. The attacks on Dr.Muhammad Yunus come at a time when microlending – once hailed as a model that would change the lives of hundreds of millions in the developing world – faces increasing hostility from politicians across the region.
In India, politicians have accused bankers of profiting from the poor and, in some places, have banned further lending or recovery of debts.
In the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, aggressive selling and recovery of outstanding interest payments by scores of unregulated microfinance firms have pushed huge numbers of already desperately poor farmers deeply into debt.
Some have no assets and owe many thousands of pounds, a lifetime's earnings.
Yunus has said he wants to step down from his position but at a time of his choosing to ensure a smooth transition for what he calls an institution "of the people".
The bank's poor borrowers comprise 75% of its shareholders. The government holds the other 25%.
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