Dhaka: The Bangladesh High Court on Thursday refused to pass a suo motu order banning the Hindu Vaishnavite order International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)’s activities in the country.
The two-judge bench refused to pass any order after it was informed that the authorities concerned in Bangladesh have taken necessary measures in this regard, media reports said.
The attorney general’s office presented the information to the HC bench consisting of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury after the day’s proceedings began, the Daily Star reported.
The bench urged the country’s Interim Government to exercise caution in safeguarding law and order, as well as the lives and properties of the people of Bangladesh.
The development comes in the backdrop of the Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das continuing to be in jail on alleged sedition charges after his bail plea was denied earlier this week.
According to media reports, the High Court bench was informed by Additional Attorney General Aneek R Haque and Deputy Attorney General Md Asad Uddin that three separate cases have been filed regarding the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif and ISKCON’s activities, with 33 of the accused arrested.
Supreme Court lawyer Md Monir Uddin placed some newspaper reports about ISKCON before the HC bench on Wednesday and prayed for a suo motu order on the interim government to ban its operations and impose prohibitory orders in Chattogram, Rangpur, and Dinajpur, which have seen widespread unrest after the controversial arrest of the monk from the Dhaka airport on Monday. UNI