Staff Reporter:
The High Court yesterday granted ad-interim bail to former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque in two murder cases filed with Jatrabari and Adabor police stations in connection with July movement.
A High Court bench comprising Justice KM Zahid Sarwar Kajol and Justice Sheikh Abu Taher passed the order yesterday.
Senior lawyers Monsurul Haque Chowdhury, Advocate Motahar Hossain Saju and Advocate Md Jahang-ir Hossain appeared for Khairul Haque.
“With these he has secured bail in all seven cases. Since there are no other cases against him, there is no more legal barrier to his release,” said his lawyer advocate Monsurul Haque Chowdhury.
Earlier on April 28, the Appellate Division upheld High Court bail granted to Khairul Haque in five cases including a murder case involving a Jubo Dal activist during the July movement, allegations of verdict manipulation in the caretaker government case, and cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commis-sion (ACC).
A bench headed by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury rejected a state appeal against the High Court order at that time.
On March 8, a High Court bench comprising Justice Md Khairul Alam and Justice Md Sagir Hossain granted bail in four cases after issuing a rule. He also secured bail in an ACC case on March 11. The state later filed an appeal seeking a stay on those bail orders.
Subsequently, he was shown arrested in two more cases at the lower court level.
Khairul Haque was arrested from his Dhanmondi residence in Dhaka on July 24, 2024.
Later, he was shown arrested in a murder case filed over the killing of Jubo Dal activist Abdul Qayyum Ahamed in Jatrabari during the July movement.
Apart from that case, four others were filed against him, including one in Shahbagh Police Station on August 27 last year over allegations of tampering with the caretaker government verdict, and two more cases filed in Narayanganj’s Fatullah and Bandar police stations on August 25 over similar allegations.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) also filed a case against him on August 4 last year over alleged irregularities in plot allocation.
After lower courts rejected his bail pleas, he moved the High Court and obtained bail in five cases fol-lowing issuance of a rule.
Khairul Haque was appointed the 19th Chief Justice of Bangladesh on September 27, 2010, and his ap-pointment took effect on September 30 the same year. He retired on May 17, 2011, and later served as Chairman of the Law Commission on three occasions.
