Obaidul Hassan (born 11 January 1959)[1] is a jurist who briefly served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.[2] He was appointed as the chief justice on 12 September 2023 and served as 24th Chief justice of Bangladesh. He also served as the president of the Inquiry Committee, 2022 for the formation of Bangladesh Election Commission.[3] He was forced to resign as Chief Justice in the aftermath of the Student–People's uprising.[4]
In 1986, Obaid started working as a lawyer in the District Court and the High Court in 1988.[10][11]
Obaid started working as an advocate in the Appellate Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court in 2005.[10] In 2009, he was appointed an additional judge of Bangladesh High Court and became a full judge in 2011.[10]
In 2017, Obaid served as a member of a five-member search committee headed by the then Appellate Division Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain. Later, in 2022, the then president Mohammad Abdul Hamid formed a search committee with Obaid as its chairman.
On 29 July 2021, Obaid was nominated by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain as the chamber judge of Bangladesh Supreme Court to reduce backlog of cases at the court through virtual heading during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.[12]
In the midst of the Non-cooperation movement (2024) when a huge number of student protesters, who were calling for the resignation of Sheikh Hasina's government, many protesters were shot to death by the police. Many lawyers submitted a plea to the High Court asking for the immediate cease of using lethal weapons by the police or any other law enforcement agencies. The High Court rejected this plea on 4 August 2024, just a day before Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign as Prime Minister and fled to India in the face of mass protests on 5 August.[13][14] Hassan resigned on 10 August 2024, after students protested his calling upon a full court meeting without consulting the Interim Government and surrounded the High Court.[15][16] Hassan's tenure was criticised by chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, who called him a "hangman".[17]