CJ, 4 judges leave courtroom after SCBA president’s remarks

Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and four other Appellate Division judges left the courtroom on Tuesday after Supreme Court Bar Association president AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon allegedly criticised the chief justice over court administration. Khokon, who is also a Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmaker, further remarked that lawyers’ incomes had declined since Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury took office. Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury was sworn in as the 26th chief justice on December 28, 2025 during the interim administration led by Professor Muhammad Yunus. The incident happened in the crowded courtroom of the Chief Justice centring the Appellate Division’s verdict in a case regarding the cancellation of the appointment of a kazi, a Muslim Marriage Registrar. In its verdict, the five-judge bench chaired by the Chief Justice...