Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, has taken oath as the new Chief Justice of Bangladesh. President Md. Abdul Hamid administered the oath at Bangabhaban on Saturday (Feb 3). Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, senior cabinet members, top judges and lawyers of the Supreme Court, among others, attended the oath-taking ceremony, local media reports said.
Mahmud was appointed Chief Justice barely three months after Surendra Kumar Sinha resigned from the post. President appointed Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain as the 22nd Chief Justice of Bangladesh on Feb 2 as per section 95 (1) of the constitution.
Hours after the announcement of the new Chief Justice, Justice Abdul Wahab Miah, the senior most judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and had been carrying out the activities of Chief Justice, quit his post. He was performing the duty of the Chief Justice in absence of regular Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.
Born on Dec 31 in 1954 in the district of Comilla, Justice Mahmud obtained BSc, LLB and completed six-month long "Commonwealth Young Lawyers Course" from the School of Oriental African Studies and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, both parts of London University.
He was enrolled as an advocate of the District Court and the High Court Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court in the year of 1981 and 1983 respectively. Mahmud Hossain also acted as Deputy Attorney General from December, 1999 till elevation to the Bench.
He was elevated as an additional judge of the High Court Division on Feb 22 in 2001 and was appointed permanent judge on Feb 22 in 2003. Later he was moved to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Feb 23 in 2011.
In 2012, Mahmud visited courts of Canada and USA under the Judicial Strengthening (JUST) Project supported by UNDP to share experience and exchange views with judges of those countries for improving justice delivery system.
As per birth date, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain will be in the post till Dec 30 in 2021.
