Former Chief Justice Khairul Haque's bail upheld, no bar to release

The Appellate Division Chamber Court has upheld the bail of former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque in a murder case at Dhaka's Jatrabari Police Station during the July mass uprising. The court has issued a 'no order' order on the state's application seeking a stay on the bail granted by the High Court. Appellate Division Chamber Justice Md. Rezaul Haque gave the order on Thursday.

There is no legal bar to Khairul Haque's release from prison as his bail is upheld in the latest arrest case, said his lawyer Motahar Hossain.

Khairul Haque was arrested in the Jatrabari Police Station case on May 23 after being granted bail in seven separate cases. The case was filed at Jatrabari Police Station by the deceased's brother, Jobair Ahmed, on charges of killing a man named Khobaib on August 5, 2024, during the anti-discrimination student movement.

Khairul Haque applied for bail in the High Court after failing in the lower court in that case. After the hearing, the High Court issued a rule on June 30 and granted him interim bail. The state party applied for a stay of this bail. The application was listed as number 105 on the Chamber Court's agenda for Thursday.

Senior lawyer Motahar Hossain heard the case on behalf of Khairul Haque in the court. Deputy Attorney General Syeda Sazia Sharmin was on behalf of the state.

After the order, lawyer Motahar Hossain said that the High Court had granted bail to Khairul Haque in seven other cases out of the eight cases, which was also upheld by the Appellate Division. He was last shown arrested in this case of Jatrabari Police Station, although his name was not in the case file. The bail was upheld as the Chamber Court gave a 'no order' on the state party's application seeking a stay of the bail granted by the High Court in this case. As a result, there was no legal obstacle to his release from prison.

It is worth mentioning that Khairul Haque served as the Chief Justice from September 30, 2010 to May 17, 2011. The Appellate Bench headed by him on May 10, 2011, nullified the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution regarding the caretaker government system and gave its verdict.

Police arrested Khairul Haque from his residence in Dhanmondi in the capital on July 24 last year. Later, he was shown arrested in the case of the murder of Jubo Dal activist Abdul Qayyum Ahad in Jatrabari during the July mass uprising. Since then, he has been in jail in various cases.