Former Chief Justice of Bangladesh Justice Mustafa Kamal died at his Gulshan residence in the city early Monday. He was 80. Family sources said Mustafa Kamal breathed his last around 3am.
He left behind three daughters and a host of relatives and admirers to mourn his death.
The first Namaz-e-Janaza of Mustafa Kamal is expected to be held in the Supreme Court premises around 2:00 pm.
The former chief justice will be laid to rest at the city’s Azimpur Graveyard after his second Namaz-e-Janaza on the compound of Gulshan Azad Mosque.Mustafa Kamal, son of famous singer Abbas Uddin Ahmed, was born on December 30, 1934 at Kuchbihar, India.
Mustafa Kamal, also a brother of famous singer Ferdousi Rahman and Mustafa Zaman Abbasi, served as the Chief Justice of Bangladesh from June 1979 to December in 1999.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed profound shock at the death of former Chief Justice Mustafa Kamal.
“He (Mustafa Kamal) was always very much vocal in establishing the rule of law in the country and keeping unharmed the independence of the judiciary,” she said in a condolence message.
Mr Justice Mustafa Kamal was born at Domar, in the district of Nilphamari in 1935.
He had a brilliant academic career. He stood 7th in order of merit in the Matriculation Examination from the Dhaka Collegiate School in 1948. He also secured 5th position in the Intermediate Arts Examination from Jagannath College in 1950. He obtained B.A. (Hons.) and M.A. degrees in Political Science from the University of Dhaka in 1953 and 1954 respectively securing 1st position in the 1st class. He took M.Sc. (Economics) degree in Political Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science by availing of a merit scholarship for higher studies from the Government of the then Pakistan. He also completed the Bar-at-Law course and was called to the Bar from the Hon’ble Society of Lincoln’s Inn in 1959.
On return from abroad, he started practicing law in the then Dhaka High Court and Supreme Court of Pakistan and developed a roaring practice.
He was a part-time lecturer of law in the University of Dhaka from 1961-1968.
He was appointed Additional Attorney General of Bangladesh in 1976. He was also appointed Advocate General of Bangladesh in 1977. He was elevated as a Judge of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in 1979. He was appointed a Judge of the Appellate Division in 1989. He was appointed to the exalted office of the Chief Justice of Bangladesh on June 1, 1999.
He participated in many international conferences representing Bangladesh in the United Nations. He was one of the authors of India Bangladesh Ganges Water Sharing Treaty that was signed in 1977. He was deeply connected in the field of law for a long period of more than 40 years both as a lawyer and a Judge and enormously contributed to the dispensation of fair justice. He offered a flood of writings and speeches of high quality on a variety of subjects. He is a scholar of exceptional standing who devoted his life to continuous study and sophisticated thought in the realm of legal literature and jurisprudence. He was a great Judge of scholarly merit and a great thinker on legal theology. His legal activities and judicial pronouncements are still treated with reverence.
Mr. Justice Mustafa Kamal was appointed Chairman of the Law Commission on December 6 2004.
