HC questions denial of bail to Ex-CJ in 5 cases

Staff Reporter:

The High Court today issued a rule asking the government to explain why former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque should not be granted bail in five separate cases, including one filed over the murder of Jubo Dal activist Abdul Kaiyum Ahad in Dhaka’s Jatrabari area during the recent anti-discrimination student-public movement.

A bench of Justice ASM Abdul Mobin and Justice Sagir Hossain passed the order after hearing a bail petition filed by the former chief justice. The court directed the government to respond to the rule within two weeks.

Senior lawyer Mansurul Haque Chowdhury appeared on behalf of Khairul Haque, while Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman represented the state. Barrister M Sarwar Hossain stood for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Khairul Haque’s bail plea covered five cases, including the Jatrabari murder case and another filed by the ACC over allegations
that he obtained a land plot through a false affidavit.

The former chief justice was arrested from his Dhanmondi residence on 24 July, following which he was charged in the Jatrabari murder case and in a separate case in Narayanganj, which accused him of delivering an illegal verdict and fabricating a judgment. The Narayanganj case was lodged on 25 August last year by Abdul Bari Bhuiyan, a former president of the District Lawyers’ Association and general secretary of Fatullah Thana BNP.

Earlier, on 11 August, tensions flared in the courtroom when two groups of lawyers clashed during a hearing on Khairul Haque’s previous bail and case-dismissal petition before another High Court bench.

The High Court’s latest rule adds a new dimension to the ongoing legal proceedings against the former chief justice, which have drawn widespread attention within both the judiciary and the political sphere