Court asks HC lawyer to bring local counsel from Ctg to defend Chinmoy

Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Saiful Islam today told Rabindra Ghosh, a senior High Court lawyer, to find a lawyer from Chattogram to stand with him to conduct hearing on behalf of former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari.

Rabindra Ghosh subsequently recruited local lawyer Sumit Acharya to stand with him.

Yesterday, the judge had rejected an anticipatory bail petition for Chinmoy after Rabindra Ghosh placed the application, saying that the lawyer did not have a Vakalatnama (power of attorney) to represent Chinmoy in court.

Rabindra Ghosh today told reporters, "The court today has accepted that it will hear my case. I have come here to assist Chinmoy's lawyers. They are scared to come due to security reasons. We are hopeful that something good will happen. The environment [at the court] today is much better than yesterday."

The senior High Court lawyer told The Daily Star, "Yesterday, the court did not hear me because I did not have the Vakalatnama and because of other lawyers. I have brought the Vakalatnama from Chinmoy from the prison and submitted it. The [court] has accepted the matter of advancing the date of the bail hearing, he will hear me, and has told me take a local lawyer with me."

"I have local lawyer Sumit Acharya with me," he said.

The court is set to convene at 2:30pm.

Rabindra Ghosh was seen with multiple police teams providing security.