Following the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court, a metropolitan court has also rejected the bail petitions of former Chief Justice and former chairman of the Law Commission ABM Khairul Haque in two separate cases. Dhaka Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Nargis Islam dismissed his bail plea in a Shahbagh police station case, while the 18th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Jahangir Hossain rejected his bail request in a case filed at Jatrabari police station.
Khairul Haque’s lawyer, Monayem Nabi Shahin, said on Monday that the petitions were filed over two cases: the Shahbagh case, alleging illegal issuance of a verdict and document forgery by Khairul Haque after cancelling the caretaker government system, and the Jatrabari case concerning the killing of Jubo Dal activist Abdul Kaiyum Ahad during the anti-discrimination movement.
“The bail petitions in both courts were rejected today,” Shahin said.
According to the Jatrabari police station case, Abdul Kaiyum Ahad was shot and killed on July 18 in the Kazla area of Jatrabari during the anti-discrimination movement. His father, Ala Uddin, filed a case at Jatrabari police station on July 6, naming 468 people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, as accused.
In the Shahbagh police station case, Khairul was accused of being influenced by Hasina and motivated by post-retirement gains, and of altering a short order on May 10, 2011 with the intent to please her, later issuing a full verdict illegally on September 16, 2012. The case was filed on August 27, 2024 by Supreme Court lawyer Muhammad Mujahidul Islam under Sections 219 and 466 of the Penal Code.
Khairul Haque was arrested from his Dhanmondi residence on July 24 in connection with the Abdul Ahad murder case by the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police and sent to jail the same night. On July 30, he was placed under seven days’ remand for questioning in the Shahbagh verdict forgery case. He remains in jail. Earlier, on July 31, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Masum Mia’s court had also rejected his bail petition.
