Bangladesh unrest: Syed Refaat Ahmed sworn in as new chief justice amid protests to revamp judiciary
Earlier, Bangladesh 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 violent protest.
Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed was sworn in as Bangladesh’s new chief justice on Sunday. The development comes a day after Justice Obaidul Hassan stepped down as the top judge following an ultimatum by the protesters demanding a revamp of the judiciary. Bangladesh’s chief justice Obaidul Hassan and five other judges of the apex Appellate Division on Saturday tendered their resignations, 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.
Earlier, the protesting student leaders had issued an ultimatum to him and the judges of the Appellate Division to resign by 1 pm Ahmed took oath as the new chief justice during a ceremony at the Darbar Hall of the president’s official residence at around 12.45 pm local time.
rotesters of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement gathered at the apex court premises to threaten judicial leadership.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath to the chief justice and the oath-taking ceremony was conducted by Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain.
Head of interim government and Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus also attended the event. Yunus was sworn in on Thursday as the head of an interim government following the ouster of Hasina, who flew to India to take refuge amid violent protests in Dhaka.
President Shahabuddin on Saturday appointed Justice Ahmed as the 25th chief justice of Bangladesh.
Several top officials in Bangladesh, including Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Maksud Kamal and Bangla Academy Director General Professor Dr Md Harun-Ur-Rashid Askari, resigned from their posts in the wake of new protests by students and other demonstrators.