Ex-CJ Khairul Haque sued once again

A case has been filed against former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque over his alleged corruption, illegal and fraudulent judgments.

Supreme Court lawyer Mujahidul Islam Shaheen filed the case last night (27 August) with the Shahbagh Police Station in the capital, Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shahabuddin Shaheen confirmed the matter to TBS.

He said the case was filed under Sections 219 and 466 of the Penal Code.

Earlier on 26 August, a case was filed in Narayanganj against Khairul Haque over his alleged fraud and treason to alter the judgement annulling the 13th amendment of the Constitution regarding the caretaker government system.

On 18 August, Khairul was sued in Dhaka over granting judgments that were false, corrupt and malicious in nature.

Justice Khairul Haque was appointed as the head of the judiciary in September 2010.

A week before his retirement, he authored the lead verdict declaring the nonpartisan election-time government "illegal", ignoring strong pleas by eminent jurists such as Dr Kamal Hossain, Barrister Rafique-ul Huq, Barrister M Amir-ul Islam, former attorney and general Mahmudul Islam, all of whom strongly argued for retaining the interim government system for the sake of country's nascent democracy.

Even three of the judges of the Appellate Division Khairul Haque was leading did not consent to declaring the system "illegal", giving dissenting verdicts. Three other judges, however, agreed with him, ensuring a stalemate.

Justice Khairul Haque, then, cast the decisive vote. The non-partisan caretaker government was declared "illegal."

According to the case document, Khairul Haque omitted the part of the verdict that said two more elections could be held under a caretaker government.

The verdict gave Sheikh Hasina the biggest political weapon to cling to power. The end of the caretaker system meant an end to the mechanism of checks and balances which ensured free and fair elections in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2008.