Former Bangladesh Chief Justice A.B.M. Khairul Haque was shown arrested in a fresh murder case on Saturday despite securing bail in seven separate cases, deepening concerns among legal observers and rights advocates over what critics describe as the growing politicization of the country’s justice system under the post-Hasina political order.
The order was issued by the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haque after police sought to show the 82-year-old former chief justice arrested in a murder case filed with Jatrabari Police Station. The development effectively blocked his release from prison, according to his lawyers.
“The same accused cannot be in two places at the same time,” Advocate Mostafizur Rahman told the court.
Khairul Haque, who served as Bangladesh’s 19th chief justice and later chaired the Law Commission, has remained in custody since his arrest from his Dhanmondi residence by Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police in July last year. Since then, authorities have repeatedly implicated him in multiple criminal cases, many linked to violence during the mass unrest surrounding the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024.
Lawyers say Justice Khairul Haque is being targeted because of the landmark 2011 Supreme Court verdict delivered under his leadership that abolished Bangladesh’s constitutional caretaker government system. Critics argue the ruling deepened political polarization and contributed to subsequent electoral disputes, while supporters maintain it was constitutionally justified and later politicized by rival political forces.
Saturday’s court proceedings drew particular attention because they came only days after the High Court directed authorities not to show Khairul Haque arrested in any unspecified case without clear legal grounds. The High Court bench of Justice Razik-Al-Jalil and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury also questioned the legality of earlier orders that had allowed police to repeatedly implicate him in additional cases.
Khairul Haque was brought into court in a wheelchair under heavy police security. He was wearing handcuffs, a helmet, and a bulletproof vest before police later removed some of the restraints inside the courtroom. Throughout the hearing, he remained silent.
The prosecution argued that Khairul Haque had played a central role in enabling what they described as the “authoritarian” rule of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. State prosecutor Omar Faruk Faruqi alleged during the hearing that the former chief justice had “legally assisted Sheikh Hasina in becoming authoritarian,” and claimed that investigators found his involvement in the killing of a protester named Khowaib during the anti-government unrest in Jatrabari on Aug. 5, 2024.
Faruqi further argued before the court that crimes could be directed remotely through “online communication, Zoom meetings, or messages,” even without physical presence at the scene.
Defense lawyers strongly rejected the allegations, describing the repeated arrests as legally inconsistent and politically motivated. Lawyer Mostafizur Rahman told the court that prosecutors were alleging Khairul Haque’s presence in multiple incidents occurring simultaneously in different parts of Dhaka.
“The same accused cannot be in two places at the same time,” Rahman told the court. He also emphasized Khairul Haque’s advanced age and deteriorating physical condition.
Another defense lawyer, Monayem Nabi Shahin, criticized the ruling after the hearing. Speaking to journalists outside the courtroom, he said, “Today’s order amounts to contempt of court. Earlier, the High Court had directed that Khairul Haque should not be shown arrested in any unspecified case. But defying that order, he has now been shown arrested in an eighth case.”
The case stems from the killing of a protest participant named Khowaib during violent clashes in Jatrabari on Aug. 5, 2024 — the day Sheikh Hasina was removed from power amid nationwide unrest. According to the complaint filed by the victim’s brother, armed members of police, Rapid Action Battalion personnel, and activists linked to the Awami League and its affiliated organizations opened fire on demonstrators. The complaint named Hasina and 79 others as accused.
A Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration assumed power after weeks of violent anti-government unrest culminated in the removal of Sheikh Hasina on Aug. 5, 2024. Following the Feb. 12, 2026 election — in which the Awami League was barred from contesting — power transitioned to a BNP-led government, while Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami emerged as the main parliamentary opposition.
The transition period was accompanied by widespread unrest, retaliatory violence, and allegations of politically motivated reprisals across parts of the country.
Rights groups and Awami League supporters have alleged that the post-Hasina period has been marked by retaliatory prosecutions, mob intimidation, and politically motivated legal actions against former officials, judges, journalists, academics, and party activists.
Legal analysts and civil liberties advocates have increasingly raised alarm over the broader implications of repeated “shown arrest” practices, in which detainees are successively implicated in new cases immediately after obtaining bail in existing ones. Critics say the tactic effectively nullifies judicial bail orders and undermines due process protections.
The High Court itself recently questioned whether authorities were using the process in an “illegal, arbitrary and mala fide manner in order to harass, humiliate and persecute” the former chief justice.
The controversy surrounding Khairul Haque’s detention comes amid wider scrutiny of Bangladesh’s post-2024 legal and political environment. Human rights organizations and opposition-aligned groups have documented allegations of arbitrary arrests, custodial abuse, and politically selective prosecutions since the collapse of the Awami League government.
Ain o Salish Kendra reported that at least 318 people, including children, were killed during the initial unrest between Aug. 5 and Aug. 8, 2024, while minority rights groups documented widespread attacks on homes, businesses, and political supporters linked to the former ruling party.
Critics argue that the repeated prosecution of aging former officials such as Khairul Haque reflects a broader climate of political vengeance rather than impartial justice. Supporters of the current government, however, insist that accountability for alleged abuses committed during the previous administration must proceed regardless of an accused individual’s status or former office.
As legal proceedings continue, the case against the former chief justice is increasingly being viewed as a major test of judicial independence, due process, and the broader direction of Bangladesh’s post-2024 political order.
