CJ, 5 other SC judges resign

Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and five other judges of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court stepped down yesterday amid student protests for their resignation.

They sent resignation letters to President Mohammed Shahabuddin through the law ministry and he accepted their resignations.

The development comes only two days after the interim government took charge.

The five other judges are: Justice M Enayetur Rahim, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique, Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim, Justice Md Shahinur Islam and Justice Kashefa Hussain.

The Appellate Division was left with Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam only.

Media reports last night said Justice Ashfaqul also resigned, but Law Secretary Golam Sarwar told The Daily Star at 10:30pm that he had not received any resignation letter from Justice Ashfaqul.

The president last night appointed Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed as the 25th chief justice.

The proceedings of the Appellate Division and the High Court Division of the Supreme Court have been suspended since July 22, a day after the apex court delivered a landmark verdict downsizing quotas in government jobs.

On Thursday, the full bench of the Appellate Division gave its opinion in favour of forming an interim government and a swearing-in ceremony.

The interim government led by Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus took oath the same day, three days after Sheikh Hasina resigned as the prime minister amid a mass uprising.

On Friday, Justice Obaidul Hassan called for a virtual full court meeting of all the Appellate Division and High Court judges to decide whether the functions of the courts could resume virtually after the weekend, Justice Hassan told this newspaper.

The meeting was scheduled for 10:00am yesterday.

There was no other agenda for the meeting, he said.

But, several thousand students gathered on the SC premises around 10:30am and started demanding the resignation of the chief justice and other Appellate Division judges.

A group of pro-BNP-Jamaat lawyers joined the protesters.

The demonstrations began after student leader Asif Mahmud, now the adviser to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, wrote on Facebook around 10:00am that the chief justice must resign and the full court meeting must stop.

"The chief justice of the Supreme Court, who was backed by the fascists and engaged in various misdeeds, has called a full court meeting without any discussion with the government. Any kind of conspiracy by the defeated power will not be tolerated. Lawyers have already rallied against him.

"We had earlier called for the resignation of the chief justice. If you incite the students and mass people by taking any stand against them, you will have to face dire consequences.

"Resign immediately from the post of the chief justice and stop the full court meeting."

Soon afterwards, several thousand students and lawyers marched and held rallies at different places on the SC premises, demanding the resignation of all the judges of the Appellate Division.

The army personnel deployed to avert any untoward incident were seen requesting the students to peacefully demonstrate without damaging properties.

At one stage, Hasnat Abdullah, a coordinator of the student movement against discrimination, declared the judges' homes would be besieged unless the chief justice and judges of the Appellate Division resigned by 1:00pm.

When reporters drew his attention to the matter around 12:00pm, Law Adviser Prof Asif Nazrul said he was hoping the chief justice would understand that the demand raised by the masses should be honoured.

He said the outgoing chief justice had warranted controversies for several reasons.

He added that the outgoing chief justice called for a meeting, and Adviser Asif said the meeting was called without consulting anyone. "It seems like a move made by the defeated authoritarian regime," he said.

He said there were questions about the outgoing chief justice. During the anti-government protests, Justice Obaidul asked whether a verdict can be changed by a movement. People did not take it well.

Besides, it is unfortunate that after he took charge, Justice Obaidul received a felicitation from Chhatra League men, which is a violation of the code of conduct, said the law adviser.

He also received a golden sword from the former Detective Branch chief Harun Or Rashid. Besides, when he travelled abroad, he used to stay at the homes of Awami League leaders. "These are the reasons why there were controversies surrounding him," he added.

Justice Obaidul subsequently resigned and the five other judges followed him.

Contacted, Justice Obaidul said, "I decided to resign considering the safety and security of the judges of the Appellate Division, High Court Division, and the lower courts across the country amid the emerging situation."

In a video message on Facebook, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said, "Our chief justice resigned a few minutes ago. His resignation letter reached the law ministry. We will promptly send it to the president, so that necessary measures can be taken."

After learning around 1:00pm that lower courts in different districts were surrounded by protesting students, he urged students not to harm or disrupt court proceedings.

There is no reason for the students to lay a siege to a lower court because the demand concerns the chief justice and some other judges.

Despite the current situation, the lower court judges are working. They have promised that they will no longer make the old mistakes, he said.