Former Chief Justice Khairul Haque in the Court: Silent Protest with Steadfast Resolve

News report

The court wanted to hear the statement of former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque in the Shahbagh Police Station case on charges of ‘corruption and forgery’; but he said nothing. His silence and firmness in the dock clearly showed his protest. He spent 15 minutes in silence, keeping his spine straight.

Shahbagh Police Station SI Khalek Mia, the investigation officer of the case, presented former Chief Justice Khairul Haque in court on Thursday after a seven-day remand and requested his detention in prison.

When the former chief justice was produced in court at around 12:05 pm, he was wearing a helmet, a bulletproof jacket and a water bottle in his hand. When the judge entered the court at 12:16 pm, his lawyer Monayem Nabi Shahin applied for bail on behalf of Khairul Haque.

The judge told the lawyer, “There is no opportunity for a bail hearing here. You file a bail application in the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court. The matter will be heard there.”

The judge then said to former Chief Justice Khairul Haque, “You have been brought to court after the end of your remand. Do you have anything to say?”

Former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque did not say anything in response to the judge’s question.

The former chief justice stood in silence in the dock for 15 long minutes. Wearing a helmet and bulletproof jacket, Khairul Haque’s firmness and toughness clearly showed a silent protest. Against his firmness, it was difficult to avoid the discomfort in the body language of the lawyers and state officials present.

Then, at 12:20 p.m., the judge ordered the former Chief Justice to be sent to prison.

Incidentally, ABM Khairul Haque served as the Chief Justice from October 1, 2010 to May 17, 2011. The Appellate Bench headed by him ruled on May 10, 2011 to nullify the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. This made the caretaker government system illegal.

Supreme Court lawyer Mujahidul Islam Shaheen filed a case with Shahbagh Police Station on August 27 last year, alleging ‘fraud and corruption’ in that verdict.

The complaint claims, “Justice Khairul Haque, influenced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s words and corruptly ‘pleased’ Sheikh Hasina for the ‘greed’ of a good post-retirement position, illegally changed the summary order of the Thirteenth Amendment case on May 10, 2011 and published the full verdict of the appeal case on September 16, 2012.”

After Khairul Haque retired, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Law Commission for a three-year term on July 23, 2013.

On August 13 last year, Khairul Haque resigned from the Law Commission in the face of mob violence. After that, several cases were filed against him. Then, on July 24, DB police arrested him from his Dhanmondi home. On the same day, he was shown arrested in the murder case of Jubo Dal activist Abdul Qayyum in Jatrabari and sent to jail.

He was again arrested on July 29 in a case filed at Fatullah Police Station in Narayanganj on charges of ‘giving illegal verdicts and making fake verdicts.’ The next day, the court sent him on a 7-day remand in a case filed at Shahbagh Police Station.

Based on the plaintiff’s application, on July 31, the court ordered the addition of sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Penal Code.