Mainur Reza Chowdhury (23 June 1938 – 26 June 2004) was a Bangladeshi jurist who served as the 12th

Chief Justice of Bangladesh The chief justice of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের প্রধান বিচারপতি — ) is the chief amongst the judges of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, and also head of the whole judicial establishments, inclu ...

between 18 June 2002 and 22 June 2003. He was appointed to the role by former President Badruddoza Chowdhury.

Early life and family

Chowdhury was born on 23 June 1938 to an aristocratic

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

family known as the '' Zamindars'' of Monakosha in Nawabganj,

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this district. T ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

. His father,

Murtaza Raza Choudhry Murtaza Raza Choudhry was a Member of the 1st National Assembly of Pakistan as a representative of East Pakistan. Early life and family Choudhry was born into an aristocratic Bengali Muslim family known as the ''Zamindars'' of Monakosha in Naw ...

, was a former Finance Minister of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

and a member of the 1st National Assembly of Pakistan. His great-grandfather, Ismail Hossain Choudhry, was the ''zamindar'' of Kotalpukur in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

. Chowdhury's mother, Syeda Roqeya Akhtar, belonged to the Syeds of Taraf that had relocated to

Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমিল্লা, Kumillā, ), officially spelled Cumilla, is the fifth largest city of Bangladesh and second largest in Chittagong division. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District. The name Comilla was ...

. His maternal aunt, Syeda Selena Akhtar, was the wife of politician

Fazlul Qadir Chaudhry Fazlul Quader Chowdhury (1919–1973) was a Bengali people, Bengali politician who served as the 5th speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan from East Pakistan. He belonged to Ayub Khan (Field Marshal), Ayub Khan's Convention Muslim League. ...

Career

Chowdhury was appointed a Supreme Court judge in 1990 and was elevated to the appellate division in 2000.

Personal life

Chowdhury was married to

Najma Chowdhury Najma Chowdhury (26 February 1942 – 8 August 2021) was a Bangladeshi academic. She was a pioneer in establishing women studies in Bangladesh. She founded the Women and Gender Studies department of the University of Dhaka in 2000. She was an a ...

, an academic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Mainur Reza 1938 births 2004 deaths People from Chapai Nawabganj district Supreme Court of Bangladesh justices Chief justices of Bangladesh Burials at Banani Graveyard Bangladeshi people of Bihari descent