The Bangladesh High Court has granted bail to former ISKCON leader Chandan Kumar Dhar, popularly known as Chinmoy Krishna Das, in a sedition case linked to alleged disrespect of the national flag during a rally in Chattogram, The Daily Star reported on Wednesday.
“He is expected to be released from the jail following the HC order, unless the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court stays the HC verdict,” Advocate Prahlad Debnath, a lawyer for Chinmoy, told The Daily Star.
The bail comes nearly six months after Chinmoy was arrested in connection with the case filed by Firoz Khan, former general secretary of Chattogram’s Mohora ward BNP. Khan had lodged the complaint with Kotwali Police Station on October 31, accusing Chinmoy and 18 others of disrespecting the national flag during a rally on October 25 in the port city’s New Market area.
Chinmoy was arrested in Dhaka on November 25 and sent to jail the following day after a Chattogram court rejected his bail plea. On December 11, the same court again refused bail in the same case.
On April 23 this year, Chinmoy’s lawyer Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee had urged the High Court to consider bail, citing his client’s illness and prolonged incarceration without trial. However, the HC had deferred its decision, stating that it would deliver a verdict after the scheduled hearing today.
