Bangladesh Chief Justice & 5 top judges resign amid demand for restructuring of judiciary

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and five other judges of the apex Appellate Division on Saturday tendered their resignation, five days after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime amid massive street protests and students marching towards the apex court demanding a revamp of the judiciary.

The 65-year-old top judge revealed his decision around 1 pm after protesters of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement gathered at the apex court premises. The students had issued an ultimatum to him and the judges of the Appellate Division to resign by 1 pm “I feel it is necessary to share some special news with you. Our chief justice resigned a few minutes back. His resignation letter has already reached the law ministry,” law adviser, equivalent to the minister of the newly-installed interim government, Prof Asif Nazrul said in a Facebook video message.

Nazrul added that the resignation letter would be sent to President Mohammad Shahabuddin “without delay for taking necessary measures” and he was expecting the process to be completed very soon.

Hours after his announcement, five other judges of the apex court tendered their resignation to the president through the law ministry, Supreme Court’s Registrar General Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan told newsmen.

Chief Justice Hassan earlier on Saturday said he had decided to step down from his position. “I have made a decision to resign after speaking with Dr Asif Nazrul,” he said.

Earlier, the full court meeting of the Supreme Court got cancelled as students issued a two-hour ultimatum for the resignation of the chief justice and other justices of the apex Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of unitary Bangladesh.

In the face of student protest, Chief Justice Hassan postponed the meeting and later said that he would step down.

Hasnat Abdullah, a coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, issued the ultimatum at 11 am, asking the Chief Justice and other justices to leave their posts within 1 pm today.

Bangladesh Army personnel were deployed at the Supreme Court premises as hundreds of protesting students gathered.

Around 1 pm, army personnel were stationed in the main building, annexe building, and other areas around the Supreme Court.

They urged the protesters to maintain peace and called on them to avoid damaging government properties.

The ultimatum came when students marched towards the Supreme Court premises, demanding the resignation of the chief justice, other judges “loyal to (Hasina’s) Awami League” and a restructuring of the country’s judiciary.

Chief Justice Hassan told journalists at the apex court premises that he has decided to resign considering the safety of the judges of the Supreme Court, High Court and lower courts across the country amid the emerging situation, The Daily Star newspaper reported.

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

Asked whether other judges of the Supreme Court will also resign, the Chief Justice said, “It’s their decision.” The development coincided with the resignation of Premier Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Maksud Kamal and Vice Chancellor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) in northeastern Sylhet Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed.

"Considering the overall situation, my resignation is necessary for the benefit of the students and the university,” Kamal told the Daily Star newspaper.

The SUST vice chancellor, however, cited “personal reasons” in his resignation letter, university officials said.

On Thursday, all members of the SUST proctorial body, dormitory provosts, and assistant provosts submitted their resignation letters to the registrar.

Following the ouster of Prime Minister Hasina, who resigned and fled to India on Monday following the political turmoil in Bangladesh, 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on Thursday as the head of an interim government.

His government is expected to announce fresh elections after bringing the law-and-order situation under control following the deadly anti-government demonstrations against the Hasina government that had led to massive violence, which is now abating.