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The High Court has granted bail to former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque in four separate cases, which include charges of murder and verdict forgery.
On Sunday, the bench of Justice Md Khairul Alam and Justice Md Sagir Hossain upheld the rule issued on the bail matter in the four cases, reports bdnews24.com.
Senior lawyers Mansurul Haque Chowdhury, Sara Hossain, Motahar Hossain Saju and Sayeed Ahmed Raja represented Khairul in court.
Deputy Attorney General Abdullah Al Mahmud, Nahid Hossain, Md Zahirul Islam Sumon and Md Akhtaruzzaman represented the state at the hearing.
Another bench of the High Court had issued a rule on Oct 26, asking why Khairul Haque should not be granted bail in a total of five cases, including on charges of murder, verdict forgery and graft.
After the Awami League government was toppled by a student-led mass uprising, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB) arrested Khairul from his house in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi on Jul 24 last year. That night, the court showed him arrested in a case over the murder of Jubo Dal activist Abdul Qayyum Ahad in the capital's Jatrabari during the July Uprising and sent him to jail.
Later, Khairul was shown arrested in a case filed by Supreme Court lawyer Mujahidul Islam Shaheen at Shahbagh Police Station in Dhaka on Aug 27 on charges of abolishing the caretaker government system, giving illegal verdicts and forging fake verdicts. He was also shown arrested in another case filed by a person named Nurul Islam Molla at Bandar Police Station in Narayanganj on Aug 25 last year on the same charges. Khairul was remanded for seven days in the Shahbagh Police Station case for questioning in police custody.
On Aug 6 last year, the Anti-Corruption Commission had filed a case against Khairul on charges of illegally acquiring a plot of land under Dhaka’s capital development authority RAJUK.
In addition to Khairul, former RAJUK chairman Md Nurul Huda, former member (Finance) and member (Estate) AEM Golam Kibria, former member (Finance) Md Abu Bakar Sikder, former member (Planning) Md. Anwarul Islam Sikder, former member (Estate) Akhtar Hossain Bhuiyan, former joint secretary and member (Development) M Mahbubul Alam and member (Administration and Land) Nazmul Hai were made accused.
Khairul served as the chief justice from Sept 30, 2010 to May 17, 2011. The Appellate Bench headed by him nullified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished the caretaker government system, in a verdict on May 10, 2011.