Baul singer Abul Sarkar, who had been in jail after being arrested in a case over allegations of hurting religious sentiments and making offensive remarks, has been granted interim bail for six months.
Lawyer Gazi Kamrul Islam Sojol told Prothom Alo today, Monday, that although allegations of religious defamation were brought in the case, there is no material basis for them.
The High Court granted Abul Sarkar six months’ bail and issued a rule. If there are no other cases against him, there is no legal barrier to his release.
After failing to secure bail in the lower court, Abul Sarkar filed a petition with the High Court seeking bail in the case. The petition was listed for hearing yesterday and subsequently heard.
At the hearing, lawyer Gazi Kamrul Islam Sojol represented the petitioner, while Deputy Attorney General Sultana Akter Ruby appeared for the state.
Earlier, allegations were raised that Abul Sarkar made offensive and blasphemous remarks during a folk song performance at the Khala Pagli fair in the Jabra area of Ghior upazila in Manikganj on 4 November. A video of his comments later spread on social media, drawing criticism from various quarters.
Subsequently, on the night of 19 November, a team from the Manikganj Detective Branch (DB) of Police detained Abul Sarkar from a musical event in Madaripur.
The following morning, he was brought to the district DB office. On the same day, Mufti Md Abdullah, imam of the Ghior Bazar Mosque, filed a case with Ghior Police Station naming Abul Sarkar as the accused.
The case included allegations of insulting Islamic beliefs and making provocative and offensive remarks intended to hurt religious sentiments.
In that case, Abul Sarkar was shown arrested and sent to jail on 20 November through the Senior Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Manikganj. He was granted bail in the case Sunday.