Appellate Division upholds bail for ex-CJ Khairul Haque in July murder charges

The Appellate Division has upheld the High Court’s (HC) bail orders for former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque in two separate murder cases linked to deaths during the July Uprising.

Chamber Judge Justice Md Rezaul Haque passed a "no order" on Wednesday following a state petition that sought a stay on the HC’s bail granted in cases filed at Jatrabari and Adabor police stations.

The ruling effectively keeps the HC’s bail orders active.

"The High Court granted bail to Justice ABM Khairul Haque in these two cases on May 10," his defence counsel Motahar Hossain Saju told bdnews24.com.

Lawyer Saju said while Justice Khairul was named in the first information report (FIR) of the Adabor murder case, his name was not included in the primary FIR of the Jatrabari case.

Following bail in five previous cases, he was formally shown arrested in the two fresh murder cases on Mar 30, 2026.

On May 12, the HC bench of Justice KM Zahid Sarwar and Justice Sheikh Abu Taher granted him interim bail, which was challenged by the state.

Justice Khairul’s son Ashik ul Haque also filed a writ petition challenging the legality of repeatedly implicating his father in successive cases purely for harassment.

On May 17, the HC ordered law-enforcing agencies not to arrest or harass the former top judge without a specific, substantiated case.

On Apr 28, an Appellate Division bench headed by the chief justice upheld Khairul’s bail in five other cases.

These include the murder of Jubo Dal activist Abdul Kaiyum Ahad in Jatrabari during the mass uprising, three cases accusing him of forging the caretaker government judgment, and a plot-allotment forgery case initiated by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Justice Khairul was arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police from his Dhanmondi residence on the morning of Jul 24, 2024.

He was sent to prison later that night after being shown arrested in the Jubo Dal activist murder case and has remained behind bars since.

Khairul assumed office as the 19th chief justice of Bangladesh on Sept 30, 2010, and retired on May 17, 2011.

On May 10, 2011, just days before his retirement, an Appellate Division bench led by him declared the 13th Amendment to the Constitution illegal.

This historic verdict effectively abolished the non-party caretaker government system for national elections.

Following his retirement, the then Awami League government appointed him chairman of the Law Commission on Jul 23, 2013.

He was reappointed to the post for multiple terms.

He resigned from the Law Commission on Aug 13, 2024, a week after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina administration in the face of a student movement.