Justice Mahmud new CJ
Justice Wahab Miah quits after being superseded for Justice Mahmuds appointment
STAFF REPORTER
Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, who has been performing functions of the chief justice from October 3 last year, resigned as an Appellate Division justice yesterday, hours after the appointment of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain as the new chief justice superseding him.
Sources said the senior most Appellate Division Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah, who was made acting chief justice for several times earlier, resigned as he was not chosen as the chief justice. However, Justice Wahab cited personal issues as the reason behind his resignation.
A staff of Justice Wahhab Miah carried the resignation letter to the presidents office yesterday evening and took Miahs personal documents from his Supreme Court office. According to Bangabhaban sources, the authorities concerned received his resignation letter.
Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah resigned 10 months before of his scheduled retirement on November 10 this year.
Earlier in the day, the president appointed Appellate Division Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain as the 22nd chief justice of Bangladesh superseding Justice Miah.
The president today appointed Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain as the new chief justice of the country. The oath-taking ceremony of the new chief justice will be held at Bangabhaban at 7pm tomorrow (Saturday), Presidents Press Secretary Mohammad Joynal Abedin said yesterday afternoon.
Talking to The Independent, Law Secretary ASM Md Jahirul Haque said: President Abdul Hamid has signed the file of his appointment today (Friday) and a gazette notification will be issued shortly.
The law ministry, meanwhile, has issued a notification in this regard. The post of the chief justice fell vacant after chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha resigned on November 10 last year following his one-month leave on health grounds. Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, the senior most judge of the appellate division, as the acting chief justice from October 3 last year. Since then he was performing functions of the chief justice and many speculated that the government would appoint him as the next chief justice. But, all speculations proved futile yesterday following the appointment of new chief justice.
When contacted, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told this correspondent that there should not be any question about the appointment of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain as the CJ. There was delay in the appointment as it is the jurisdiction of the President, he added.
Responding to a query, the chief law officer of the state said the president is the sole authority to appoint the chief justice. I cant answer why Justice Wahhab was not appointed as the CJ and why the appointment was delayed. This is not the first instance of superseding as it was done for many time previously, Alam said.
In response to another query, he said, I hope that nothing embarrassing will happen following the appointment of new chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain superseding Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah.
On May 11 in 2011, Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman, then the senior most judge of the Appellate Division, resigned apparently for appointing Justice Md Muzammel Hossain as chief justice superseding him.
The newly appointed Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain was born in 1954 and obtained BSc, LLB and completed six-month Commonwealth Young Lawyers Course from the School of Oriental African Studies and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, both part 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 1981 and 1983 respectively. Mahmud Hossain also acted as the deputy attorney general from December 1999 till his elevation to the Bench.
He was elevated as an additional judge of the High Court Division in 2001 and judge of the same division in 2003. Later, he was elevated to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court 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.
