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CJ Obaidul Hassan, 5 SC judges resign

Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed made new CJ 

Published : Sunday, 11 August, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 342
Staff Correspondent
Amid students protest, Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and six judges of the Appellate Division resigned from their position on Saturday.

The Chief Justice submitted his resignation in the noon of Saturday while the five other Appellate Division justices submitted their resignation letters to the President through the Law Ministry in the afternoon of the day, sources in the Law Ministry said. 

The five justices are Justice M Enayetur Rahim, Justice Abu Zafar Siddique, Justice Jahangir Hossain, Justice Md Shahinur Islam and Justice Kashefa Hossain. 

Six out of seven Appellate Division judges resigned from their position citing personal ground and hoping for building future Bangladesh as the youth dream of Bangladesh. 

Meanwhile, President Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed as the 25th chief justice of Bangladesh on Saturday.

Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, senior most judge of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, was first appointed as judge of the Appellate Division and then appointed as chief justice, Law Secretary Md Golam Sarwar said. 

The appointment came after Obaidul Hassan stepped down from his post of chief justice. His decision 
came following a protest from students, who issued an ultimatum to him and judges of the Appellate Division to resign by 1:00pm. 

Obaidul in his resignation letter said, "I had to take this decision to protect the Supreme Court building and its records, protect the court premises, protect the judges' houses, judge's tower, protect the judges from physical abuse and protect the district judge's court and record room."

In his resignation letter, Appellate Division Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim said that despite being ill for long, he has been conducting judicial function with honesty and sincerity, which was appreciated by all. 

"Despite that considering present circumstances and keeping the law and order situation under control I have decided to resign from my post," Justice Jahangir said.

"I hope with my resignation the rule of law and independence of judiciary will be upheld significantly as well as dream of youth will be fulfilled to build future Bangladesh," Justice Jahangir added. 
 
After receiving the resignation letter of Chief Justice, Law Ministry Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul in a Facebook post said, "I feel it is necessary to share a special news with you. Our Chief Justice has resigned few minutes back. His resignation letter has already reached the Law Ministry. We will send it to the President without delay for taking necessary measures."

Later, Dr Nazrul told media that the former chief justice Obaidul Hassan accepting a sword from former DB chief Harun-Or-Rashid as well as flowers from the BCL upon his appointment, created a lot of controversies.

"There are many questions about the former DB chief Harun. This Harun was the main person behind illegally detaining the six coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. Former chief justice Obaidul Hassan accepted a golden sword as a gift from Harun. I was very surprised. Whenever Obaidul went abroad, he used to stay in houses of various Awami League leaders there. Due to these reasons, there was a lot of controversy about Obaidul Hassan," Asif Nazrul told the media after a meeting with officials of the Law and Justice Division.

"Another thing about him [Obaidul Hassan] was very sad. After he became chief justice, he received flowery greetings from the BCL. My personal opinion on this is that it is a violation of the code of conduct. It doesn't give a very good impression," he added.

Earlier, the full court meeting of the Supreme Court got cancelled as students issued a 2-hour ultimatum for the resignation of the Chief Justice and other justices of the Appellate Division in the morning on Saturday.

Hasnat Abdullah, a coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, issued the ultimatum at 11:00am, asking the CJ and other justices to leave their posts within 1:00pm on Saturday.

Students marched towards the High Court premises, demanding the resignation of the Chief Justice, other justices loyal to the Awami League and a restructuring of the country's judiciary.

They had also called upon their fellow students to gather from every part of the country to press home their demands.

Youth and Sports Adviser of the interim government, Asif Mahmud, posted an update on Facebook, saying, "The Chief Justice, who is part of the fascist regime, has called upon a full court meeting without consulting the government."

"We won't tolerate any conspiracy. We had called for his resignation earlier, and we'll take strict action if the CJ tries to give any incitement."

The CJ told journalists on the SC premises that he has decided to resign considering safety of the judges of SC, High Court and lower courts across the country amid the emerging situation.

"There are some formalities for the resignation. Completing those, I will send my resignation letter to President Mohammed Shahabuddin by this [Saturday] evening," he added.

Asked whether other judges of the SC will also resign, the CJ said, "It's their decision."

On July 4, during the appeal hearing on quota system, the then Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan, said 'so much movement has started on the street? Will you change the judgment of the High Court, the judgment of the Supreme Court with the pressure of the movement.



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