President accepts resignation of Justice Akhtaruzzaman
Staff Reporter :
The resignation of Justice Dr. Akhtaruzzaman, who sentenced BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia to five years in the Zia Orphanage Trust case, has been accepted by President Md. Sahabuddin.
On Friday, the Supreme Court’s news update confirmed that his resignation had been accepted. He had submitted his resignation on 31 August.
Earlier, Justice Akhtaruzzaman of the High Court, who had been sent on leave, was summoned by the Supreme Judicial Council to explain allegations of irregularities. On 1 July, he appeared in person and was asked to provide an explanation. After giving this explanation, he submitted his resignation to Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed, who then forwarded it to the President.
Previously, on 23 March, the President had ordered a full investigation into Justice Akhtaruzzaman.
On 16 October last year, Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed sent 12 judges on leave over allegations of corruption and acting as accomplices of the “fascist Sheikh Hasina government.” Alongside, a decision was taken not to assign them benches.
The judges sent on leave were: Justice Naima Haider, Justice Sheikh Hasan Arif, Justice Ashish Ranjan Das, Justice Mohammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar, Justice S.M. Moniruzzaman, Justice Ataur Rahman Khan, Justice Shahed Noor Uddin, Justice Md. Akhtaruzzaman, Justice Md. Aminul Islam, Justice S.M. Masud Hossain Dolon, Justice Khizir Hayat, and Justice Khondkar Diliruzzaman.
Following the allegations, Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed led an investigation under the Supreme Judicial Council. As part of this process, Justice Akhtaruzzaman was summoned to provide an explanation.
For context, on 8 February 2018, Justice Md. Akhtaruzzaman sentenced Khaleda Zia to five years in prison at the Dhaka Special Judge Court-5, located at the Parade Ground of the Department of Prisons in Bakshibazar, in the Zia Orphanage Trust case. In addition, Tarique Rahman and five others were sentenced to ten years each.