Five more judges of the top court’s appellate division followed with resignations hours after the chief justice had decided to quit.
Saturday’s resignations come five days after attorney general A M Amin Uddin had quit and are an indication the interim govt will move fast on legal steps concerning recent incidents in an effort to meet protesters’ demands and cool the situation on the ground.
The interim govt now seems to have a team of judges and law officers of choice to implement their plans. New chief justice Ahmed has studied law in Dhaka, at Oxford University, and at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in US.
Cases filed from July 1-August 5 to be withdrawn
Hasnat Abdullah, one of the coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, had demanded that Ahmed (of the high court) be appointed SC chief justice by 6pm Saturday.
Dhaka University vice-chancellor Prof ASM Maksud Kamal and Bangla Academy director general Prof Mohammed Harun-Ur-Rashid Askari also resigned on Saturday.
The five apex court judges who sent their resignations to the president on Saturday through the law ministry are Justices M Enayetur Rahim, Mohammed Abu Zafor Siddique, Jahangir Hossain Selim, Mohammed Shahinur Islam and Kashefa Hussain.
Obaidul Hassan was appointed to helm Supreme Court last year and protesters targeted him as they considered him to be a loyalist of ousted PM Sheikh Hasina. The protesters, who had begun their siege of the apex court at about 10.30am, left by 2pm after it became known an hour earlier that Hassan had decided to resign. “I feel it is necessary to share special news with you. Our chief justice resigned a few minutes back. His resignation letter has already reached the law ministry,” law, justice and parliamentary affairs adviser Prof Asif Nazrul said in a video message on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier, Hassan told journalists present at SC that his resignation was in view of the safety of judges of the apex court, high court and lower courts, Daily Star reported.
Meanwhile, the law ministry has decided to take measures within three working days to withdraw all cases filed between July 1 and Aug 5 and to free from Child Detention Centres those arrested in these cases. The students claimed the cases were filed to suppress the recent countrywide protests of students and others to force Hasina out of govt. Sources said a meeting of the law, Justice and parliamentary affairs ministry also decided to take action against those involved in the killings during the same period. The law ministry also decided on prompt action to withdraw cases filed under Bangladesh’s Anti-Terrorism Act and Cyber Security Act.
Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, said from Washington his mother “never officially resigned, she didn’t get the time”, adding, “As far as the constitution goes, she is still the PM.”