Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed has issued show-cause notices to three High Court judges, Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam, Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman, and Justice Md Zakir Hossain, asking them to explain within three days the large number of bail orders issued in a short period.
The notices were sent through WhatsApp by Md Muajjem Hussain, the High Court Division鈥檚 special officer and an additional district judge posted on deputation, on October 24, a day after the interim government鈥檚 advisory council had expressed concern over a High Court bench granting bail in nearly 800 cases within four to five hours.
Muajjem Hussain also phoned the judges to inform them of the chief justice鈥檚 instructions.
Several lawyers close to the three judges and sources at the Supreme Court Registrar General鈥檚 office on Monday confirmed the matter.
The three judges, who used to sit on two-member benches while granting bail orders, are now serving as single-member bench judges.
They have also been asked to submit the lists of lawyers who represented the accused in those bail petitions.
One of the judges submitted a letter to the Supreme Court Registrar General鈥檚 office, seeking 12 days to respond to the notice as the three-day deadline expired on Monday.
Law adviser Asif Nazrul, on October 23, at a press conference at the Foreign Service Academy, said, 鈥楢 judge has the authority to grant bail, but is it possible to hear 800 cases in four to five hours? Was there proper judicial consideration?鈥�
The adviser neither named the bench nor specified when the bail orders were issued, but urged the journalists to look into the matter further.
According to the High Court鈥檚 online cause list, the bench of Justice Md Zakir Hossain and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja granted 611 bail orders between 2:00 pm and 4:15 pm on September 4.
The bench heard 1,104 petitions and delivered orders in 768 cases that day.
On September 24, the vacation bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Yousuf Abdullah Suman granted 1,141 bail orders between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm, as per the cause list.
The bench heard 1,650 petitions and gave results in 1,228 cases.
These mass bail orders sparked discussions within the Supreme Court, according to lawyers and court officials.
Deputy attorney general Mehedi Hasan, who was present during the September 24 hearing, said that most of the bail orders were issued in cases filed against unidentified leaders and activists of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations over offences linked to the July 2024 uprising.
He said that several of those cases stemmed from the July 16, 2025 violence in Gopalganj, where police accused 8,384 unnamed people. At least five people were killed during clashes between Awami League supporters and members of the law enforcement agencies after a reported attack on a motorcade of the leaders of the National Citizen Party.
In a related incident in Faridpur鈥檚 Bhanga upazila, protesters opposing constituency boundary changes on September 16 vandalised the upazila council building and the local police station, set fire to 11 motorcycles, damaged several police vehicles, and injured at least four people.
Earlier, the bench led by Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman came under criticism from Law adviser Asif Nazrul for granting bail to former Jatrabari police sub-inspector Sazzad Uz Zaman in a murder case linked to the July鈥揂ugust 2024 mass uprising. The case was filed by the mother of a July uprising martyr.
On August 20, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court ordered sub-inspector Sazzad Uz Zaman to surrender before the trial court in the 2024 July鈥揂ugust murder case.
Chamber judge Justice Md Rezaul Haque issued the directive after staying a High Court order that granted Sazzad鈥檚 interim bail three months ago.
The apex court order came a day after a demonstration staged by the victims鈥� families outside the secretariat in Dhaka demanding the resignation of the law adviser and two High Court judges, Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman and Justice Kazi Ebadoth Hossain, who granted the bail.
After being late informed, the office of the attorney general on August 20 filed a petition seeking a stay on the High Court order that granted bail to Sazzad.
The petition was filed shortly after Sazzad鈥檚 release from jail. It also requested permission to appeal against the High Court鈥檚 May 20 bail order.
Additional attorney general Aneek R Haque told 抖阴精品 that the attorney general鈥檚 office was not immediately informed of the bail order due to a lapse by deputy attorney general Monzur Alam Sujan, who was assigned in the HC in the case.
He said that the appeal was filed as DAG Monzur Alam recommended to the attorney general to appeal against the bail order in the case.
In response to the backlash, adviser Asif Nazrul clarified in a Facebook post that the High Court鈥檚 decisions were independent from the law ministry.
鈥業n a case filed by a July victim鈥檚 family, the High Court granted bail to a police officer, which has understandably angered the martyrs鈥� families,鈥� he wrote.
鈥楾he attorney general鈥檚 office has already appealed against the bail order. If the bail is cancelled, the accused officer will be re-arrested,鈥� the post stated.
