Zakir Hossain / Dhaka
Bangladesh Supreme Court’s Appellate Division Chamber Court may hear a petition on Sunday, filed by the state seeking a stay on the High Court order granting bail to Hindu monk and former Iskcon leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari in a sedition case.
“We have filed an application to stay the High Court’s bail order. The hearing is likely to take place on Sunday,” Additional Attorney General Mohammad Arshadur Rouf told the media.
Earlier, on Tuesday, a High Court division bench comprising Justice Md Atoar Rahman and Justice Md Ali Reza granted the bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das making the rule absolute and delivering the verdict in favor of bail on the sedition charge.
Lawyers Prabir Ranjan Halder and Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee moved the bail petition in the court while Additional Attorney General Anik R Haque and Additional Attorney General Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Bhuiyan represented the state.
Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, formerly Chandan Kumar Dhar, is the spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, a platform advocating for the rights of religious minorities in Bangladesh. On October 25 last year, a huge gathering of the Sanatani community was held in chattogram under the leadership of Chinmoy Krishna Das. Subsequently, a sedition case was filed accusing him and 18 others, including charges of disrespecting the national flag.
On November 25, Chinmoy was arrested in Dhaka. The following day, the Chattogram Metropolitan Magistrate Court denied him bail and ordered his detention. As sequel to the court’s decision, a violent clash erupted between law enforcement personnel and Chinmoy’s followers, including lawyers, near the court premises. During the chaos, lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was tragically hacked to death.
Chinmoy remained in custody and his subsequent bail petition was again rejected by the Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court on January 2 this year. He later appealed to the High Court, which finally granted him bail, now being challenged by the state in the Supreme Court.