Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
The Bangladesh High Court on Monday deferred till May 14 its verdict on bail petitions filed by former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, also known as Chandan Kumar Dhar, in four cases.
A bench of Justice KM Zahid Sarwar and Justice Sheikh Abu Taher postponed the ruling after Additional Attorney General Aneek R Haque sought time to submit additional documents. Chinmoy’s lawyer Apurba Kumar Bhattacharya opposed the plea for more time.
On Sunday, the same bench rejected Chinmoy’s bail petition in the case filed over the killing of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif with Kotwali Police Station in Chattogram.
Alif was beaten and hacked to death on November 26, 2024, during clashes near the Chattogram court building. During the hearing, Apurba said Chinmoy had been suffering from illness in jail since November 25, 2024, and sought bail on that ground. Deputy attorneys general opposed the petitions.
According to the defence, Chinmoy has been accused in eight cases, including murder and sedition. He has secured bail in three cases from the High Court and lower courts, including one on April 16 this year in a case filed nearly three years ago by BNP leader Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin. However, the Appellate Division has stayed the High Court order granting him bail in the sedition case.
Chinmoy was arrested in Dhaka on November 25, 2024, in the sedition case and produced before a Chattogram court the next day. After the court rejected his bail and ordered him to jail, his followers staged protests and blocked the prison van carrying him. The protest later turned violent, leading to Saiful’s death.
The High Court granted Chinmoy bail in the sedition case on April 30, 2025, but the Appellate Division stayed the order. He was later shown arrested in five other cases, including the lawyer murder case.
On September 1, 2025, the High Court issued rules asking why Chinmoy should not be granted bail in the five cases. Final hearings ended on May 7.