President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Saturday (Aug 10) appointed High Court Judge Syed Refaat Ahmed as Bangladesh's new Chief Justice as incumbent Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan resigned in the afternoon. Under the authority vested upon him under Article 95 (1) of the Constitution, the President has appointed High Court's judge Syed Refat Ahmed as the Chief Justice in the evening, President Press Secretary Md Joynal Abedin told National News Agency of Bangladesh. The appointment would come into effect from the day of his oath of office to be administered by the President. Syed Refat Ahmed will be the country's 25th Chief Justice.
Earlier, Chief Justice Obaidul Hasan and five judges of the Appellate Division submitted their resignations to the Ministry of Law. The other five judges are – M. Enayetur Rahim, Md. Abu Zafar Siddiqui, Jahangir Hossain, Md. Shahinur Islam and Kashefa Hossain.
According to the rules, the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser to the Interim Government sent the resignation letters to the President through the Chief Adviser.
Earlier, the agitators protested in front of the extended building of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court from 10:30 a.m. in the morning demanding the resignation of seven judges of the Appellate Division including the Chief Justice.
Subsequently, it is known that the Chief Justice has taken a policy decision to resign. After that, the agitators belonging to the Ant-Discrimination Student Movement left the High Court area around 2.00 p.m. Later, he resigned around 2:30 p.m.
