President Iajuddin Ahmed yesterday appointed MM Ruhul Amin as the next chief justice (CJ), superseding Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, the most senior member of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court after the incumbent CJ.
A gazette notification by the law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry said the appointment will come into effect on June 1. The president will administer an oath of office at the Bangabhaban for the new chief of the apex court that day.
The tenure of current CJ Md Ruhul Amin expires on May 31.
In terms of seniority, the CJ-elect comes after Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, who was superseded once before. Karim's term as the Appellate Division judge will end on September 30, 2010.
The president has appointed Justice MM Ruhul Amin as the 16th CJ as per article 95(1) of the constitution.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has decided not to give a farewell to the outgoing CJ in protest at the Appellate Division's recent judgment forbidding the High Court (HC) not to grant bail in any case under the emergency power rules.
By the same token, they will not arrange any reception for the new CJ.
Justice MM Ruhul Amin was elevated as a judge of the Appellate Division on July 13, 2003. He was appointed an additional judge of the HC on February 10, 1994 and his service was confirmed on February 8, 1996.
He has been serving as the chairman of Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission since 2004.
Born in 1942 in Laxmipur, MM Ruhul Amin earned a master's degree in history in 1963 and LLB in 1966 from Dhaka University.
He joined the judicial service in 1967 and became a district judge in 1984. Before his promotion to an HC judge, he worked as a district and sessions judge in four districts.
Justice Amin attended an executive course on administration and case management at the National Judicial College in the US in 1990. As part of the Legal and Judicial Capacity Building Project, he visited a number of courts and institutions in the US to observe case management, alternative dispute resolution and court administration.
He also visited India, Nepal and Sri Lanka to observe the service and pay structure of the judicial officers there and presented a report to the authorities concerned.
In his reaction to the appointment, SCBA President barrister Shafique Ahmed yesterday told The Daily Star, “We thought this caretaker government won't go for supersedence like the political governments.”
He said they would stand by their decisions not to bid farewell to the outgoing CJ and greet his successor.