DHAKA: Police in Bangladesh arrested the country’s former top judge on Thursday in connection with a murder-related case, authorities said.
A court in Dhaka later sent the former chief justice, 81-year-old ABM Khairul Haque, to jail.
Police officer Nasir Islam said that “Haque is facing several other cases, but he was shown arrested for his alleged involvement in a murder” during the student uprising last year that ousted former premier Sheikh Hasina.
The murder case was filed by Ala Uddin, a leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) — which is widely expected to win the next election — accusing Haque, Hasina and 465 others of killing his son during the popular uprising.
Haque was brought into a packed courtroom in Dhaka where he remained silent as the judge ordered him jailed, witnesses said.
Khairul Haque has long been criticised for a 2011 ruling that abolished holding elections under a ‘caretaker govt’ system
Haque served as chief justice for just eight months beginning in late 2010 and was later appointed chairman of the country’s Law Commission by Hasina’s government.
He has long been criticised for a 2011 ruling that abolished holding elections under a “caretaker government” system, in which the incumbent leadership would step down during the electoral period to ensure transparency and fairness.
The move was widely perceived to have favoured Hasina to remain in power.
Haque also delivered several other significant but controversial verdicts, including in the murder case of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a top BNP leader, said after Haque’s arrest that “we hope exemplary punishment will be ensured so that the judiciary can never be weaponised against the state”.
Mahbub Uddin Khokon, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said Haque “enjoyed various privileges after declaring the caretaker government system illegal”.
“His verdict helped (Hasina’s) Awami League to unleash a reign of terror, including enforced disappearances and murders,” Khokon told reporters during a press conference.
Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2025
