SC Lifts Stay on Chinmoy’s Bail, Hearing Set for Sunday

A chamber judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has withdrawn a suspension order on the bail of controversial Hindu nationalist leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, just minutes after initially imposing it.

The judge, Md Rezaul Haque, scheduled a re-hearing of the state’s petition to suspend the bail for next Sunday, with Chinmoy’s lawyer present. The suspension was issued at 5:50pm and lifted around 6:30pm the same evening.

Earlier in the day, the High Court bench of Justice Md Atoar Rahman and Justice Md Ali Reza had granted Chinmoy bail following a hearing on his petition. The High Court had issued a rule on February 4 asking why bail should not be granted to him.

The sedition case against Chinmoy stems from a complaint filed on October 31 last year by Firoz Khan, a former BNP leader, accusing him and 18 others of disrespecting the national flag during a rally held on October 25 in Chattogram’s New Market area.

Chinmoy was arrested in Dhaka on November 25, and the following day, a Chattogram court denied him bail and sent him to jail. Another bail petition in the same case was also rejected on December 11.