Bangladesh Chamber Court stays Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das's bail order

Dhaka [Bangladesh], May 6 (ANI): Bangladesh Chamber Court on Tuesday has ordered a stay on the bail granted to Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das, lawyers said.

"We told the Chamber court that if Chinmoy Krishna Das is released on bail, the investigation of the case will be hampered. There is a possibility that he will flee. The court has ordered to stay the bail," Aneek R Haque, Additional Attorney General, told ANI after hearing.

Das's lawyer says he will file a regular appeal against this stay order.

"We told the Chamber Court that there is no truth in the allegations of sedition brought against Chinmoy Krishna Das. The Chamber court has stayed the bail order, advising us to file a regular appeal," said Chinmoy's lawyer, Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee.

"We will file a regular appeal after receiving a copy of the bail is granted by the High Court," he added.

The Bangladesh government on Wednesday appealed to the Supreme Court's Chamber judge to stay the bail order of spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das.

Earlier, the Bangladesh High Court had granted bail to spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das in a sedition case.

Immediately after the bail order was issued, the state filed an application with the chamber court seeking a stay of the order.

A chamber judge is a judge who handles urgent and temporary matters, often during court vacation or when a full bench is unavailable.

Bangladesh police arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das, spokesperson of Sanatani Jagoroni Jote and a former monk of ISKCON, on November 25, 2024 from Dhaka airport for allegedly disrespecting the Bangladesh's national flag, which he denied.

He had applied for bail in the High Court after a lower court in Chittagong rejected his plea on January 2. In February, the Bangladesh High Court had asked the government to explain why Das should not be granted bail, as confirmed by his lawyer.

During the January 2 hearing in Chittagong, Das' defence team argued that he held deep respect for the motherland, comparable to the reverence for his mother, and was not a traitor. Despite these arguments, the court denied the bail plea. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)