Former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque sent to jail following remand
In the plea, the investigator stated that the accused had been interrogated intensively during the seven-day remand
Former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque has been sent to jail following the completion of a seven-day remand in a case filed on charges of verdict forgery.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Saifuzzaman issued the order after a hearing today (7 August).
After the remand period was complete, Shahbagh Police Station Inspector Khaleq Mia, the investigating officer of the case, produced Khairul Haque before the court and sought to have him sent to jail.
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In the plea, the investigator stated that the accused had been interrogated intensively during the seven-day remand. The information obtained is still under verification. The accused declined to give a confessional statement in court regarding the case, and thus no such statement was recorded. As the investigation is ongoing, it is necessary to keep the accused in jail for the sake of completing the probe, the application noted.
Granting the plea, the magistrate ordered that Khairul Haque be sent to jail.
He was arrested by Detective Branch police from his residence in Dhaka's Dhanmondi area on 24 July. Initially, he was shown arrested in connection with a separate juvenile murder case and sent to jail.
On 30 July, Dhaka's Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Sanaullah had approved the seven-day remand for the former chief justice.
On 18 August 2024, he was sued for his alleged engagement in fraud and forgery to alter the judgment that annulled the 13th amendment concerning the caretaker government.
The lawsuit was filed with a Dhaka court of Metropolitan Magistrate Dilruba Afroze Tithi by lawyer Imrul Hasan.
On 26 August last year, a case was filed in Narayanganj against Khairul Haque over his alleged fraud and treason to alter the judgement annulling the 13th amendment of the Constitution regarding the caretaker government system.
On 27 August 2024, another case was filed against former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque over his alleged corruption, illegal and fraudulent judgments. Khairul Haque allegedly altered a verdict in favour of then prime minister Sheikh Hasina's interest and to secure a lucrative post-retirement appointment, publishing the full judgment on 16 September 2012 in a fraudulent manner.
Supreme Court lawyer Mujahidul Islam Shaheen filed the case with the Shahbagh Police Station in the capital.
On 13 August, Justice ABM Khairul Haque resigned from the position of chairman of the Law Commission.
After retiring from the position of chief justice, he was appointed the Law Commission chairman for three years on 23 July 2013 by the government.
His tenure was subsequently extended three times as the chairman of the commission.
He was appointed an additional judge of the High Court Division on 27 April 1998 and promoted to justice of the High Court Division on 27 April 2000.
Justice Khairul Haque was elevated to the Appellate Division in July 2009.
In September of 2010, Hasina government appointed him as the head of the judiciary, superseding two senior judges – Justice MA Matin and Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman.
His age, however, was not in his favour. By next May, he had reached the retirement age.
But within this short window, Haque scripted one of the most important chapters of what was to come.
A week before his retirement, Justice Haque authored the lead verdict declaring the nonpartisan election time government "illegal", ignoring strong pleas by eminent jurists such as Dr Kamal Hossain, Barrister Rafique-ul Huq, Barrister M Amir-ul Islam, former attorney and general Mahmudul Islam, all of whom strongly argued for retaining the interim government system for the sake of country's nascent democracy.
Even three of the judges of the Appellate Division Justice Haque was leading did not consent to declaring the system "illegal", giving dissenting verdicts. Three other judges, however, agreed with him, ensuring a stalemate.
Justice Haque, then, cast the decisive vote. The non-partisan caretaker government was declared "illegal."
His verdict gave Hasina the biggest political weapon to cling to power. The end of the caretaker system meant an end to the mechanism of checks and balances which ensured free and fair elections in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2008.
