Annulment of 13th amendment: Case against former CJ Khairul dismissed

A Dhaka court today summarily dismissed a case against the former chief justice and recently resigned Law Commission chairman ABM Khairul Haque on charges of fraud and altering the judgment that annulled the 13th amendment concerning the caretaker government, hours after filing of it.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Dilruba Afroze Tithi passed the order finding no cogent grounds to take cognizance of the charges brought against Khairul Haque.

Earlier in the day, Md Imrul Hasan, a lawyer of Dhaka Bar Association, filed the case against Khairul Haque, a staffer of the court told The Daily Star.

In his complaint, Imrul said on August 13 this year, Justice ABM Khairul Haque resigned from the position of chairman of the Law Commission.

After retiring from the position of chief justice, he was appointed the Law Commission chairman for three years on July 23 of 2013 by the government. His tenure was subsequently extended three times as the chairman of the commission.

Justice Khairul Haque was elevated to the Appellate Division in July 2009.

A week before his retirement, Justice Haque gave the 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 democracy.

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

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

His verdict gave 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, said the complainant in his complaint.

Meanwhile, SC lawyer Fawzia Karim Firoze served a legal notice on the law adviser and law secretary for taking action against Justice Khairul Haque for declaring the caretaker government system unconstitutional.

This judgement has generated an ugly culture of intolerance in Bangladesh and he (Khairul) is the architect of all the unrest and political destabilisation of the country, the lawyer said in the legal notice.