Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed took oath as the new Chief Justice on Sunday, succeeding Obaidul Hassan, who resigned along with five other Appellate Division judges on Saturday.
He took oath from President Mohammed Shahabuddin at 12:47pm in Bangabhaban as the 25th Chief Justice of the country.
Chief Adviser Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus, other advisers to the interim government, judges, chiefs of the three services, attorney general and Supreme Court (SC) lawyers, including Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) leaders, among others, were present at the oath-taking ceremony.
According to a circular signed on behalf of the President by Law and Justice Division Secretary Md Golam Sarwar, the President has appointed Syed Refaat Hasan as the Chief Justice of Bangladesh exercising article 95(1) of the Constitution.
The appointment will be valid from the date of taking oath, the circular added.
Syed Refaat Ahmed was born on December 28, 1958. His father, Barrister Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed, served as a former attorney general of Bangladesh. His mother, Dr Sufia Ahmed, was a national professor of Bangladesh and a prominent professor of Islamic History and Culture at the University of Dhaka.
The Chief Justice obtained LLB (Hons) (First Class, First in order of merit), University of Dhaka, BA in Jurisprudence and MA Wadham College, University of Oxford, UK, MA in Law and Diplomacy and Ph.D. from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA. He was Ford Foundation Fellow in Public International Law at The Fletcher School.
He was enrolled as an Advocate of the District Court, the High Court Division and the Appellate Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court in 1984, 1986 and 2002 respectively.
Elevated as Additional Judge of the High Court Division on April 27 in 2003 and appointed Judge of the same Division on April 27 in 2005.
Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Barrister Mahbub Uddin said the SCBA would give felicitation to the newly appointed Chief Justice on Monday at 10:30am at the courtroom no-1 of the Appellate Division.
Earlier on Saturday, former CJ Obaidul Hassan and other judges of the Appellate Division resigned amid protests by students.
Their resignations came amidst massive street protests demanding a revamp of the judiciary, with protesters gathering at the apex court premises and issued ultimatum for their resignation.
