A Dhaka court on Saturday showed former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque as arrested in another murder case took place during the July Mass Uprising in 2024.
ABM Khairul Haque was produced before the court in connection with a petition to show him arrested in the Khobaib murder case filed with Jatrabari Police Station.
After a delay of more than four hours, the court following a brief hearing, ordered that he be shown arrested in the case and sent to jail.
According to court proceedings, Khairul Haque was brought from prison around 11:00am on Saturday under heavy police escort to the Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka, appearing in the courtroom of Judge Sara Farzana Haque.
He was brought in a wheelchair, wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet, and was escorted by several police officers who assisted in moving him up the stairs into the courtroom.
As the judge was not present at the scheduled time, he remained seated in the courtroom for nearly 45 minutes without any formal hearing before being returned to the prison cell.
He was later produced before the court again at around 3:00pm. After approximately 30 minutes of hearing, the court granted the prosecution’s petition and ordered that he be shown arrested in the case and sent to jail.
Defense counsel Advocate Moin Nabi Shahin opposed the petition, while Barrister Shams Haider Chowdhury represented Khairul Haque in court.
On the prosecution side, Advocate Omar Faruq Faruqui argued in favour of the application, stating that information from multiple sources indicated Khairul Haque’s alleged involvement in the shooting deaths of students and civilians. He noted that although Khairul Haque’s name was not initially included in the FIR, the investigation officer’s findings later implicated him in the case.
The prosecution further claimed that during the previous Awami League government, the abolition of the caretaker government system facilitated authoritarian governance and that Khairul Haque was subsequently appointed Chairman of the Law Commission.
On May 17, the High Court directed that ABM Khairul Haque should not be shown arrested or harassed without specific cases against him.
Earlier, after securing bail in five separate cases, he was shown arrested on March 30 in connection with two murder cases filed with Jatrabari and Adabor police stations in the capital. The legality of this process was later challenged through a writ petition filed on May 13 by his son and lawyer, Ashik Ul Haque.
It is also noted that Khairul Haque was arrested from his Dhanmondi residence in Dhaka on July 24 last year, and he has remained in custody since then.
