A writ petition has been filed with the High Court seeking an order to restrain former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque from being arrested or harassed in any new cases.
The petition, filed by lawyer Monayem Nabi Shahin in the relevant section of the Supreme Court, is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday before the High Court bench comprising Justice Razik-Al-Jalil and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury.
The petitioner has sought a rule from the court questioning why showing former chief justice arrested in successive cases-despite his name not being included in the First Information Reports (FIRs)-should not be declared illegal. Furthermore, the writ seeks a directive to ensure he is not shown arrested in any other cases while the rule remains pending.
Khairul Haque currently faces a total of seven cases. On 12 May, the High Court granted him bail in two separate murder cases related to the July mass uprising.
Following that order, his legal team stated that there were no further legal barriers to his release from prison. However, the state moved the Appellate Division on Wednesday seeking a stay on that bail order.
The former chief justice was initially arrested from his Dhanmondi residence on July 24 last year. He was first shown arrested in a case involving the death of Jubo Dal activist Abdul Kaium Ahad in Jatrabari during the July mass uprising.
On 28 April, the Appellate Division upheld his bail in five cases, which included charges related to the killing of a Jubo Dal activist, the alleged forgery of the caretaker government system verdict, and several cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Earlier, on 8 March, the High Court had granted him bail in four cases, followed by bail in an ACC case on 11 March. Although the state sought to stay these bails, the Appellate Division rejected their application.
Subsequently, Khairul Haque was shown arrested in two more cases- the murder of Arif at Jatrabari Police Station and the murder of Rubel at Adabor Police Station.
After being denied bail in the lower courts for these two specific cases, he moved to the High Court and secured bail on 12 May.
