HC grants bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das in sedition case

The High Court has granted permanent bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the spokesman for the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote who has been in jail for five months in a sedition case over disrespecting the Bangladeshi flag.

The High Court bench of Md Atoar Rahman and Md Ali Reza gave the ruling on Wednesday, settling the rule issued on the matter in February.

Lawyer Apurbo Kumar Bhattacharya represented Chinmoy at the hearing, while Attorney General Aneek R Haque represented the state.

Chinmoy, head of the ISKCON-run Pundarik Dham Temple in Chattogram, had spoken out against attacks on minorities across the country since Aug 5, calling for eight specific demands.

Following a public rally at Chattogram’s Laldighi Maidan on Oct 25, a sedition case was filed on Oct 30 against Chinmoy and 18 others at Kotwali Police Station.

Chinmoy was arrested at Dhaka's Shahjalal International Airport on Nov 25 in connection with the sedition case.

The news of his arrest sparked protests across several districts, including Dhaka, Chattogram, Cumilla, Khulna, Dinajpur, and Cox’s Bazar, which continued late into the night of Nov 25.

On Nov 26, Chattogram's 6th Metropolitan Magistrate Kazi Shariful Islam rejected Chinmoy's bail application in the sedition case and sent him to jail.

The decision angered members of the Hindu community, who staged a protest around the prison van outside the court.

The protest lasted for around two and a half hours before police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd before taking Chinmoy into custody.

During the protest, several motorcycles and vehicles parked on the court road were damaged. A scuffle also broke out between lawyers and protesters. In the ensuing chaos, lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was killed on the Rangam Convention Hall road.

After Chinmoy was denied bail, his lawyers immediately filed a revision petition, seeking another hearing. However, no hearing took place that day.

Chinmoy was taken from Dhaka to Chattogram that evening.

Another bail hearing was held on Dec 3, but when no lawyer stood to represent Chinmoy, the hearing was deferred to Jan 2.

Ahead of the hearing, the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote alleged that cases were filed against 70 lawyers to prevent them from representing Chinmoy in court. They also claimed that some lawyers’ chambers had been attacked.

On Dec 12, a court ordered the registration of the bail plea for Chinmoy and on Jan 2, the Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court rejected his bail plea. On Jan 12, Chinmoy took his petition for interim bail to the High Court.

The High Court issued a rule asking why Chinmoy should not be granted bail on Feb 4.