A Dhaka court has ordered the imprisonment of former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque in connection with the killing of teenager Abdul Kaiyum Ahad during student protests last July.
The detention order came late Thursday night from Dhaka’s Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Sanaullah. Court sources said the prosecution argued there were risks of witness intimidation and obstruction to justice if the former judge remained free.
Khairul was brought to the courtroom under heavy police protection shortly after 8:00pm. He had been arrested earlier in the evening by the Detective Branch from his residence in Dhanmondi.
At the hearing, Jatrabari police station Inspector Khaled Hasan submitted a petition seeking Khairul’s detention. According to the prosecution’s filing, Abdul Kaiyum was shot in the face and chest during a demonstration outside the Kajla police box on July 18, 2024. The protest was part of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
The case also claims several others were killed in the same incident.
The prosecution further alleged that Khairul, while serving as chief justice in 2011, committed acts of sedition and criminal breach of trust by issuing judicial verdicts that were “forged” and politically motivated. It pointed to multiple pending cases in Dhaka and Narayanganj that include similar charges.
No defense lawyer appeared on Khairul’s behalf during the hearing.
The courtroom atmosphere grew tense as pro-BNP lawyers and citizens gathered outside, calling for justice. Several became emotional, alleging the former judge had betrayed the legal system.
The arrest follows mounting pressure surrounding unresolved allegations from the July uprising. Abdul Kaiyum’s death triggered widespread outrage last year, with his father, Md Alauddin, filing a case that listed 467 individuals by name and named up to 2,000 others as unidentified suspects.
Police records state that Abul Hasan, then Jatrabari’s officer-in-charge, shot the boy in the legs, leading to his immediate death. Civil society groups continue to demand justice.
Subsequent documents linked Khairul to what prosecutors describe as a broader strategy to curb dissent through judicial channels. They now claim his rulings as chief justice directly contributed to the rise in unrest.
Justice ABM Khairul Haque was appointed as the 19th Chief Justice of Bangladesh in 2010 and served until his retirement in 2011.
While in office, he delivered several major rulings. His most politically significant verdict abolished the country’s caretaker government system. Supporters said the move modernized the electoral process. Critics argued it weakened the credibility of future elections.
Khairul also ruled on the Bangabandhu assassination case, declared the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution illegal, and presided over environmental rulings related to Dhaka’s rivers.
In 2013, he was appointed chairman of the Law Commission. He held the role through several renewals until resigning shortly after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
He stepped down on August 13, ending his public career just months before Thursday’s arrest.
How long the legal process will take is anyone’s guess. But Khairul’s detention has brought renewed focus to the lingering questions from July 2024—and whether accountability may now catch up with a once-powerful player.