Former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque was sent to jail today (August 7) following the completion of his seven-day remand in a case filed over alleged verdict forgery.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Saifuzzaman passed the order after hearing a petition submitted by Shahbagh Police Station Inspector Khaleq Mia, the investigating officer of the case.

In his submission, the investigator stated that Justice Khairul was intensively interrogated during the remand, and the information obtained is still under verification. As he declined to give a confessional statement before the court, the investigator sought to keep him in jail to continue the probe.

The court granted the plea and ordered that he be sent to jail.

Justice Khairul Haque was arrested from his Dhanmondi residence on July 24 by the Detective Branch of police. Initially, he was shown arrested in a separate juvenile murder case. On July 30, a Dhaka court approved his remand in the verdict forgery case.

On August 18, 2024, lawyer Imrul Hasan filed a case accusing Khairul Haque of manipulating the judgment that annulled the 13th amendment of the Constitution, which had introduced the caretaker government system. Several other cases followed, including allegations of corruption, treason, and delivering illegal verdicts.

Justice Khairul resigned as Law Commission chairman on August 13. He had served as chief justice briefly in 2010, controversially declaring the caretaker government system unconstitutional — a decision that altered Bangladesh’s electoral process and drew sharp criticism from legal experts and jurists.

MN/