Dhaka: Bangladesh’s former Chief Justice A.B.M. Khairul Haque was arrested on Thursday morning from his Dhaka residence, local media reported, quoting the police.
“We arrested former Chief Justice A.B.M. Khairul Haque from his Dhanmondi residence sometime after 8 a.m. on Thursday (July 24). He will be brought to the DB office. After that, action will be taken against him later,” reports leading Bangladeshi newspaper Jugantor, quoting Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Joint Commissioner, Mohammad Nasirul Islam.
However, the senior police official did not divulge any details on the grounds of his arrest and the ongoing investigation.
“We will share more information once the details are available,” said the DB official.
His arrest also follows a series of detentions of people associated with the Awami League government, adding to the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government’s efforts to suppress Hasina’s party.
Khairul was appointed as the country’s 19th Chief Justice in September 2010 and served until May 2011. He also served as the chairman of the Law Commission starting in 2013, for a three-year term during the tenure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and was later reportedly reappointed to the post several times.
He tendered his resignation from the post of Chairman on August 13 last year, just days after the ouster of democratically-elected Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League.
Recently, addressing a press conference in Dhaka, the Nationalist Lawyers’ Forum demanded the arrest and trial of the former Chief Justice, claiming him to be “the chief architect of the destruction of the country’s judiciary and democracy.”
Reports suggest that at least two cases were filed against Khairul in different police stations after the interim regime assumed power in Bangladesh.
One of the cases was filed in August of last year by BNP leader and Narayanganj District Bar in connection with Khairul’s verdict declaring the caretaker government system unconstitutional 13 years ago.
Subsequently, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Dilruba Afroze Tithi passed an order dismissing the case, finding no valid grounds to take cognisance of the charges brought against the former Chief Justice Khairul, local media reported.
Analysts reckon the developments as an extension of the political vendetta being pursued by the Yunus-led interim government, as several cases were filed against the former Prime Minister Hasina, her supporters, and the working officials during her tenure on frivolous grounds immediately after her ouster in August 2024.
The unceremonious exit of Hasina last August following the violent student uprising was globally seen as a major setback to the democratic set-up in the country.
(IANS)
