President Mohammed Shahabuddin has removed High Court judge Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman from office following a recommendation by the Supreme Judicial Council on proven allegations of misconduct.
The law ministry issued a gazette notification on Wednesday confirming the removal.
The Supreme Court, in a separate statement posted in its website on Thursday, said that the president had removed Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman on Wednesday based on the SJC probe report.
Diliruzzaman was among 12 High Court judges placed under investigation in January after the president directed the SJC to probe allegations of judicial misconduct by the judges.
Diliruzzaman had chaired a judicial probe committee formed by the then-Awami League government on July 18, 2024 to investigate the killings of six individuals on July 16, 2024 during the student protests.
The killings triggered a nationwide uprising that eventually forced then prime minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to India on August 5, 2024.
With the removal of Diliruzzaman, a total of seven judges have so far been dismissed or resigned through the SJC process.
Earlier, Justice Khizir Hayat was removed by the president on March 18 upon similar recommendations from the SJC.
Justice Shahed Nuruddin resigned amid the probe, while Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das retired before the conclusion of the inquiries in the allegations against them.
The interim government did not retain additional HC judges SM Masud Hossain Dolon and Md Aminul Islam, also among the 12 judges under scrutiny, effectively ending their tenure.
On August 6, 2024, the Supreme Court Bar Association demanded the removal of the judges accused of delivering politically influenced verdicts under the AL government. The SCBA had called for their resignation within two weeks.
Justice Diliruzzaman and Justice Khizir Hayat were both appointed as additional judges to the High Court on May 31, 2018 during the AL regime.
They were confirmed as permanent judges in 2020.
On October 21, 2024, the Supreme Court barred the 12 judges from judicial functions following widespread student protests alleging political bias in the judiciary during Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 15-year rule.
The five remaining judges still under the SJC review are Justice Naima Haider, Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif, Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar, Justice SM Maniruzzaman, and Justice Md Akhtaruzzaman.
Earlier, three other High Court judges 鈥� Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury, Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque, and Justice AKM Zahirul Hoque 鈥� resigned in November 2024 after being barred from judicial duties for five years on similar grounds.