High Court Justice Shahed Nuruddin has resigned while allegations against him were under investigation in the Supreme Judicial Council.
In a message sent by the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division Public Relations Officer (PRO) Shafiqul Islam on Thursday, it was confirmed that Justice Shahed Nuruddin submitted his resignation letter to the President through the Chief Justice of Bangladesh from Canada while an investigation against him was ongoing under the Supreme Judicial Council.
Govt approves ordinance for transparent HC judge appointments
He and his wife left the country on November 9 last year and are currently in Canada.
Justice Shahed Nuruddin was appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court on October 21, 2019 during the tenure of the previous Awami League government, following his retirement as a District and Sessions Judge. His appointment was made permanent two years later.
He came into the spotlight for delivering the verdict in the widely discussed August 21 grenade attack case while serving as the judge of Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal No. 1. The High Court later acquitted all the accused in the case.
Justice Nuruddin also delivered verdicts in several other high-profile cases, including the Sony murder case, Ahsanullah Master murder case, “Pichchi Hannan” murder case, and college teacher Krishna Kaberi murder case, among others.
Appellate Division upholds HC's dismissal of 5 labour cases against Dr Yunus
A graduate of Dhaka University’s law department, he joined the judiciary as a Munsif in 1983 and was promoted to District Judge in 2000.
His resignation comes in the wake of growing scrutiny over judicial appointments made during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure as prime minister. On October 16 last year, Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed placed 12 judges, including Nuruddin, on leave following demands for the removal of judges accused of partisanship and corruption. Subsequently, from October 20, he was barred from conducting judicial duties.
On the same day, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement held a demonstration at the High Court demanding the resignation of Awami League-backed judges, while the Anti-Discrimination Lawyers’ Society and the National Citizens’ Committee’s Legal Wing also staged protests calling for the removal of politically affiliated judges.
Following these events, Supreme Court Registrar General Aziz Ahmad Bhuiyan announced that 12 judges of the High Court Division would not be assigned to any benches. However, at that time, their names were not disclosed. Later, they were absent from the High Court’s cause list. One of the judges has since retired.
In November last year, the Supreme Court administration issued a notice stating that the Supreme Judicial Council was reviewing information regarding several judges after the ruling on the 16th Amendment.
On December 4, the administration further confirmed that a preliminary investigation into the conduct of several judges was ongoing.
BNP welcomes HC verdict scrapping part of 15th Amendment
On December 15, the Supreme Judicial Council invoked Article 96 of the Constitution and submitted information on several judges to the President.
According to an update on the Supreme Court’s website on January 6, the President has instructed the Supreme Judicial Council to investigate multiple Supreme Court judges under Article 96(5)(B) of the Constitution. The investigation is set to begin next week.