The High Court today denied bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a former ISKCON leader, in a sedition case filed for allegedly disrespecting the national flag.
However, the court issued a rule asking the state to explain within two weeks why Chinmoy should not be granted bail in the case. The bench of Justice Md Atoar Rahman and Justice Md Ali Reza issued the rule after hearing the petition filed by Chinmoy seeking bail.
Chinmoy will not be released from jail following the HC’s order, according to his principal lawyer, Advocate Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee.
During the hearing, Additional Attorney Generals Abdul Jabbar Bhuiyan, Mohammad Arshadur Rauf, and Aneek R Haque opposed the bail petition.
Advocate Apurba Kumar had filed the bail petition on Chinmoy’s behalf on January 12, arguing that the sedition case against Chinmoy is unacceptable as no government order was issued to file the case.
Under Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a government order is required to file a sedition case, and only a government officer can file such a case. Since the case against Chinmoy was filed by a private individual, it violates the relevant section of the CrPC, his lawyer claimed.
Section 196 of the CrPC states that no court shall take cognizance of certain offences unless the complaint is made by order of or under the authority of the government or an authorized officer.
Advocate Apurba Kumar also asserted that the allegations against Chinmoy were completely “false,” and that he had never disrespected the national flag.
On October 31, Firoz Khan, former general secretary of the Mohora ward BNP in Chattogram, filed the case with Kotwali Police Station, accusing Chinmoy and 18 others of disrespecting the national flag during a Hindu community rally in Chattogram’s New Market area on October 25.
Chinmoy was arrested in the capital on November 25, 2023, and on November 26, the Chattogram court denied his bail plea. On January 2, 2024, the Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Saiful Islam also rejected his bail request in the same case.
