Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan has stepped down from his post as head of the judiciary body of Bangladesh in the face of protests by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Prof Asif Nazrul revealed the information on Saturday afternoon.
"I feel it is necessary to share a special news with you. Our chief justice has reigned few minutes back. His resignation letter has already reached at the law ministry. We will send it to the president without delay for taking necessary measures," he said in a video message in his Facebook post.
Asif Nazrul also hoped that the process would be completed very soon.
"We have received only the resignation letter of the chief justice. There is no update about (resignation) of others," he added.
In his resignation letter, Obaidul Hassan wrote: "To protect the Supreme Court building and its records, to protect the court premises, to protect the homes of the judges, to protect the Judges Tower, to protect the judges from physical assault, and to protect the district courts and record rooms, I had to make this decision."
Meanwhile, following the resignation of the chief justice, five other justices in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court have also decided to resign.
They are Justice M Enayetur Rahim, Justice Abu Zafor Siddique, Justice Mohammad Jahangir Hossain, Justice Md Shahinur Islam, and Justice Kashefa Hussain.
Protesters staged a demonstration in front of the extended building of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court from 10:30am, demanding the resignation of the chief justice and seven other Appellate Division judges. Around 1:30pm, it was reported that the chief justice had made a decision in principle to resign. By 2pm, the protesters had left the High Court area.
Earlier, Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan called for a full court meeting with all justices from both divisions of the Supreme Court.
Protesting students viewed the convening of the full court meeting as a judiciary coup and announced a siege of the High Court premises.
Hasnat Abdullah, one of the coordinators of the student movement, issued an ultimatum demanding the resignation of the chief justice and the justices of the Appellate Division.
In the face of student protest, Chief Justice Obaidul postponed the meeting and later said that he would step down.
Earlier, Law Adviser Prof Asif Nazrul said that the chief justice should determine his fate to protect the dignity of the judiciary.
He also said that the chief justice should respect the demands of the student people.
Referring to the complaints of the protest leaders, Asif Nazrul said: "I have seen the students' complaints. The way the chief justice had called the full court meeting seemed like a move in favour of the defeated autocratic forces. Before I comment on this, I want to say a few words, our chief justice is a very respectable person. However, there were questions about him, especially during this movement. He had questioned whether a verdict can be changed by protest. This was not well received by people."
He said that when Obaidul Hassan went abroad, he stayed at the residences of various Awami League leaders. There were multiple controversies about him.
He said: "Especially during this student movement, he commented on what all the protest was about. The reaction was not good. Students had demanded his resignation. That demand has risen again today (Saturday)."
Describing it as an "unfortunate incident," the law professor said: "Such unfortunate incidents should not happen. We believe the Supreme Court is our biggest institution for protecting the Constitution and human rights. No one should do anything that positions the Supreme Court against the mass movement of the students."
Meanwhile, members of Bangladesh Army have been deployed at the Supreme Court premises as hundreds of protesting students gathered.
Around 1pm, it was seen army personnel were stationed in the main building, annex building, and other areas around the Supreme Court.
They urged the protesters to maintain a peaceful stance and called on them to avoid wasting government resources.