Bangladesh's Chamber Court Suspends the HC Bail Order for Chinmoy Krishna Das

By Masum Billah, Dhaka, Bangladesh

The Appellate Division Chamber Court has suspended the High Court's (HC) bail order granted to Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson of Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote and a former leader of Iskcon, in a sedition case filed against him for allegedly disrespecting the national flag.

The Chamber Judge of the Supreme Court's Appellate Division, Justice Md Rezaul Haque, passed the order after hearing the state's application on the evening of 30 April.

Additional Attorney General Arshadur Rouf, Aneek R Haque, and Deputy Attorney General Fariduddin Khan represented the state during the hearing.

Deputy Attorney General Fariduddin Khan informed the media that the Chamber Judge Court suspended the bail until the Appellate Division hears the leave-to-appeal against the High Court's verdict.

Earlier in the day, the bench of Justice Ataur Rahman Khan and Justice Ali Reza granted bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das, disposing of another HC rule regarding his bail.

On 4 February, the HC issued a rule asking why Chinmoy should not be granted bail in the case.

The matter was later placed on the bench's cause list for 19 March, with the hearing date set for 23 April.

On 23 April, the date was postponed to 30 April following a request for more time by the state counsel.

Previously, on 2 January, the Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge rejected Chinmoy's bail plea, after which his lawyer filed the bail petition with the HC on 12 January.

Chinmoy is accused of sedition in a case filed on 31 October for allegedly desecrating the national flag. He was arrested at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on 25 November and handed over to the Chattogram Metropolitan Police the following day.

Following his remand hearing on 26 November, a clash between law enforcers, lawyers, and Chinmoy's followers resulted in the death of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif.

On 3 December, the court postponed Chinmoy's bail hearing to 2 January 2025, as no lawyer had represented him during the earlier proceedings.

Later, on 12 December, Supreme Court lawyer Rabindra Ghosh submitted an authorization letter on behalf of local lawyer Sumit Acharya.

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