Justice Khairul Haque new chief justice

Justice ABM Khairul Haque, a senior judge of Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, has been appointed as 19th chief justice of Bangladesh.
President Zillur Rahman yesterday made the appointment as per article 95(1) of the constitution.
The appointment will come into effect on September 30 this year, as present Chief Justice Md Fazlul Karim will retire on September 29.
ABM Khairul Haque was born in Madaripur on May 19 in 1944. He obtained his LLB from Dhaka University and Bar-at-Law from Lincolns Inn, London.
Khairul was enrolled as an advocate of the district court, the High Court Division and the appellate division of Bangladesh Supreme Court in the year 1970, 1976 and 1982 respectively.
He was elevated to additional judge of the High Court Division in April 1998 and appointed regular judge of the same division in April 2000.
He was promoted to senior judge in the Appellate Division on July 14 last year.
Later, he was appointed chairman of Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission (BJSC) on March 25 this year.
Justice Khairul Haque delivered a number of landmark judgements during the period of his judgeship in the High Court Division.
He upheld a lower court verdict that had sentenced 15 accused killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members.
A division bench of the High Court headed by him ruled that it was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who had at first declared the independence of the republic on March 26, 1971.
The bench of Justice Khairul Haque issued verdicts declaring 5th amendment of the constitution illegal for saving environment including four rivers--Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakhya--around the capital city from pollution, and for protecting historical places relating to the country's liberation war.
Khairul Haque will retire on May 18 next year.