Bangabhaban sources confirmed the information.

The law ministry has issued a notification in this regard.

"The president has appointed Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, a judge of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, as the Chief Justice of Bangladesh exercising the power bestowed upon him as per article 95 (1) of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh," read the notification.

Syed Refaat Ahmed was born on December 28, 1958. His father, Barrister Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed, served as a former attorney general of Bangladesh. His mother, Dr Sufia Ahmed, was a national professor of Bangladesh and a prominent professor of Islamic History and Culture at the University of Dhaka.

Earlier in the day, Obaidul Hassan stepped down from his post as head of the judiciary body of Bangladesh in the face of protests by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.