Former President Shahabuddin Ahmed passes away

Former President and Chief Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed passed away at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) here Saturday at the age of 92.

Family sources said Ahmed breathed his last around 10:25 this morning.

He had been suffering from old age complications for a long time, they said.

In February, he got admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the CMH as his physical condition deteriorated.

Justice Ahmed was born on February 1, 1930, at Pemoi village under Kendua thana of Netrakona district.

His father Talukder Resat Ahmed Bhuiyan was a well-known social worker and philanthropist.

Ahmed obtained BA (Hons) in Economics in 1951 and MA in International Relationship in 1952 from University of Dhaka.

He joined the then Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) in 1954, received training in Lahore Civil Service Academy and completed a course at the University of Oxford.

He served as Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Administrator and Additional Deputy Commissioner in his early carrier.

In June, 1960, he was transferred to the judiciary department. He served as Additional District and Sessions Judge in Dhaka and Barishal and District and Sessions Judge in Cumilla and Chattogram. In 1967, he was appointed as Registrar of the Dhaka High Court.

On January 20, 1972, he was promoted to the Judge of the Bangladesh High Court.

On February 7, 1980, Ahmed was appointed as a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

He was the chairman of the Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate the police firing on protesting students at Dhaka University in mid-February 1983.

He was the Chairman of Bangladesh Red Cross Society from August 1978 to April 1982. On 14 January 1990, he was appointed as the Chief Justice of Bangladesh.

Ahmed took over the charge of acting President after Hussain Muhammad Ershad resigned from the post on December 6, 1990.

After the fifth National Parliamentary Election in 1991, he re-joined the post of Chief Justice from which he eventually retired on February 1, 1995.

Later on 1996, Ahmed was elected unopposed President of Bangladesh under the nomination of Awami League. His tenure came to an end on 14 November, 2001.

Anwara Ahmed, wife of Sahabuddin Ahmed, died in 2018 at the age of 80 after complaining a long illness.

The eldest daughter of their five children, Dr. Sitara Parveen was a teacher in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at Dhaka University. She died on June 23, 2005 in a tragic road accident in the United States.