The High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Sheikh Hafizur Rahman Karzon, a professor of Dhaka University, for eight weeks in a case filed under the Digital Security Act (DSA).
The HC bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim and Justice Md Atoar Rahman granted the bail after hearing a bail petition filed by Prof Karzon.
The higher court, however, asked the law professor to surrender before the tribunal. Barrister Omar Farooq appeared for the professor in the court while Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappi represented the state.
On July 22 in 2021, Prof Karzon wrote a post on Facebook that stoked a major controversy, forcing him to subsequently remove the same. He had also apologised for ‘hurting the religious sentiments of people’.
Later on August 1, Amit Bhowmik, general secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Juba Parishad, filed a case against Prof Karzon under the Digital Security Act alleging that his post had hurt the religious sentiments of people.
According to the complaint, the Facebook post of Prof Karzon ‘was ugly and defamatory; it hurt crores of Hindu people's religious sentiments as it went viral on social media.’
The complaint said, ‘Prof Karzon posted it on purpose to create religious chaos and to embarrass the government of a non-communal country.’
