President Zillur Rahman talks to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina right after administering oath to newly appointed Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque at Bangabhaban yesterday morning. Photo Courtesy: PMO

Newly appointed Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque yesterday urged lawyers and judges to work together to restore “the lost credibility of the court”.
He was responding to the felicitation accorded to him by the Attorney General's Office and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at court No 1 of the Appellate Division yesterday afternoon.
Earlier on the day, Justice ABM Khairul Haque was sworn in as the 19th chief justice of Bangladesh.
President Zillur Rahman administered the oath to Justice Khairul at Bangabhaban around 10:30am.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Advocate Abdul Hamid, outgoing Chief Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, former chief justices Latifur Rahman, Mahmudul Amin Chowdhury and Md Ruhul Amin, a number of ministers and military and civil officials were present at the oath taking ceremony.
The chief justice said the articles of the original constitution had been restored automatically on February 2 this year when the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions against a High Court verdict that declared illegal the Fifth Amendment to the country's charter.
He recommended the law ministry reprint the constitution's copy containing those articles.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam in his speech recalled some landmark judgments delivered by Justice Khairul Haque during the period of his judgeship in the High Court Division.
SCBA President Khandker Mahbub Hossain in a written statement hoped that Justice Khairul Haque would act with utmost impartiality.
He opposed the attorney general, who on Wednesday accused outgoing Chief Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim of violating the constitution by not administering oath to Ruhul Quddus Babu and M Khasruzzaman who were appointed as HC judges.
After the felicitation programme, the chief justice told reporters at his office that he would talk to SCBA leaders and senior lawyers about administering oath to Ruhul Quddus and Khasruzzaman.
Replying to a question, Khairul Haque said the judges of the SC divisions should publish their wealth statements in the interest of a transparent judiciary.