Ex-CJ Khairul to walk free after securing bail in uprising killing case

Former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque faces no legal bar to walking out of jail after the High Court granted him bail in a July Uprising murder case on Tuesday, his lawyers told reporters.

The High Court also asked the authorities concerned to explain why Khairul should not be granted a permanent bail in the case.

The bench of Justice KM Zahid Sarwar and Justice Sheikh Abu Taher passed the bail order in the lawsuit, the last of eight filed against him and the only one where he was still shown arrested.

Senior Advocates Mansurul Haque Chowdhury, Motahar Hossain Shaju, Sayeed Ahmed Raja and Md Jahangir Hossain moved in favour of the bail petition.

ABM Khairul Haque is known particularly for imperiling the country’s democratic journey by invalidating the 13th Amendment to the constitution, when he was serving as the chief justice. The 13th Amendment endorsed the non-partisan poll-time caretaker government system.

On 28 April, the Appellate Division upheld the High Court’s bail order in five other cases against Khairul.

On 12 May, the High Court granted him bail in the two remaining cases.

However, on 23 May, a fresh case was filed against Khairul over the killing of student activist Khowaib during the final hours of the July Uprising on 5 August 2024.

As per the case statement, Awami League regime’s activists and law enforcers rained bullets indiscriminately on student-led demonstrators near the Jatrabari intersection in the capital.

Kowaib was severely injured in the attack and was rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where the doctors later declared him dead.

The Awami League government fell on the same day of Khowaib’s killing in the face of the uprising.

On 16 November 2024, Khowaib’s brother Zobayer Ahmed filed a murder case against Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, Khairul Haque and 78 others.

On 24 July, detectives detained Khairul from a residence in Dhanmondi and later showed him arrested in eight cases in phases.