Dhaka, Dec 12 (PTI) The lawyer of Chinmoy Krishna Das on Thursday filed a fresh plea in a Bangladesh court seeking to expedite the hearing of the arrested Hindu monk's bail petition in a sedition case, according to media reports.
This comes a day after the court rejected similar petitions by the lawyer, asserting that he did not have the power of attorney from the monk.
Lawyer Rabindra Ghosh once again submitted an application to Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Saiful Islam to hear a bail application, the bdnews24.com news portal reported.
“I came yesterday too. Unfortunately, a hearing was not held yesterday. Today (the judge) accepted (the petition). He will hear me out,” the lawyer was quoted as saying by the news portal.
Responding to a question about why Das' lawyers were not coming to court, he said, "I have spoken to them. The cases that have been filed against them…they are not coming out of fear."
Meanwhile, Chattogram District Bar Association President Nazim underscored that Ghosh will face the case "legally".
"Today, he presented an application. His letter of attorney was from the Supreme Court bar. The court said, ‘If any lawyer gives me a letter of attorney this time, I will hold a hearing.' That is the situation for now,” he said.
On Wednesday, three petitions filed by the lawyer were rejected at the same court.
These included permission to represent Das in the case over which he was arrested, the second requested access to records from a case filed on November 26, and the third sought to expedite the bail hearing, the report said.
In his plea, Ghosh said Das was arrested in a “false and fabricated case” while he had been suffering from diabetes, asthma and other issues.
The hearing was due to be held on December 3 when the court deferred the date to January 2, 2025, on a prosecution side suggestion as no lawyer appeared on his behalf.
Das, a former ISKCON leader, was arrested at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on November 25. The next day, a court in Chattogram sent him to jail, rejecting his bail petition as he was accused of a sedition charge for allegedly disrespecting the country's flag.
His arrest sparked protests, with his followers demonstrating in Dhaka and other places while the protest turned violent in Chattogram, where a lawyer was killed.
The advocate's death sparked a counter-campaign, demanding a ban on ISKCON, which distanced itself from the priest, saying he was expelled from the organisation six months ago.
On October 31, a case was filed with Kotwali Police Station in Chattogram, accusing Das and 18 others of disrespecting Bangladesh's national flag with a local leader of ex-premier Khaleda Zia's BNP, who too was expelled by the party for obscure reasons.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)