Md. Rezaul Hasan (born 17 December 1962), also known as M R Hasan,
is a judge of the
High Court Division
The High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh ( bn, হাইকোর্ট ডিভিশন) popularly known as the 'High Court' is one of the two divisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the other division being the Appellate D ...
of the
Bangladesh Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশ সুপ্রীম কোর্ট) is the highest court of law in Bangladesh. It is composed of the High Court Division and the Appellate Division, and was created by Part VI C ...
.
Education
Hasan received his
bachelor and
Masters degrees in law from the
University of Dhaka
The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...
.
His father was a lawyer.
[
]
Career
Hasan became a lawyer in the District Court in 1985 and in the High Court Division
The High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh ( bn, হাইকোর্ট ডিভিশন) popularly known as the 'High Court' is one of the two divisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the other division being the Appellate D ...
of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in 1989. He joined the Appellate Division in 2004, was appointed as an additional judge of the High Court Division in 2009, and was made a permanent High Court judge in 2011. Early in his career, he was briefly a lecturer in the University of Chittagong's Faculty of Law and in 2003 was short-term consultant at the World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
's offices in Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
.[
Hasan contributed an essay to the treatise ''Investment Across the Borders'' published by the ]International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
in 2010. His book ''M. R. Hasan's Index of Bangladesh Laws'' has been widely accepted by the legal community in Bangladesh and copies of it are preserved in the libraries of the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
, Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
, Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, Columbia University Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestig ...
, Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, and the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. He was a keynote speaker in a seminar on commercial law jointly organised by Standard Chartered Bangladesh
Standard Chartered Bangladesh (officially M/S Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh Pvt. Ltd.) is a banking and financial services company headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh and a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered. Standard Chartered has ...
and the United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
in Dhaka in July 2018. In his talk, he advocated to reduce the bank rate
Bank rate, also known as discount rate in American English, is the rate of interest which a central bank charges on its loans and advances to a commercial bank. The bank rate is known by a number of different terms depending on the country, and ...
to below 10%. In 2014, he removed eight members from the board of directors of Pubali Bank
Pubali Bank ( bn, পূবালী ব্যাংক) is the largest private commercial bank in Bangladesh. It has more branches than any other private bank in the country. Monzurur Rahman is the present chairman of the bank.
History
Pubali B ...
, as they did not own the minimum required shares of the bank.
In 2014, after a judgment from Hasan, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) is the regulator of the capital market of Bangladesh, comprising Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). The commission is a statutory body and attached to the Mini ...
changed its Listing Registrations to require listed companies to hold an annual general meeting in the cities of their registered offices, a move intended to increase transparency in the capital market
A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt (over a year) or equity-backed securities are bought and sold, in contrast to a money market where short-term debt is bought and sold. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers t ...
s. The Ministry of Education circulated information about a judgment by Hasan directing that no teachers should be kept under suspension for more than two months. In 2016, Hasan and Justice Kashefa Hussain
Kashefa Hussain (born 1 July 1958) is a Bangladeshi justice of the High Court Division.
Early life and education
Hussain was born on 1 July 1958. Her father, Syed Muhammad Hussain was also a justice. Her mother's name is Suraiya Hussain. She p ...
ordered Chittagong Development Authority
Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) is a self-governing organization in Chittagong, Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in th ...
, Chattogram City Corporation, and the Department of Environment to protect Munshi Pukur, a 100-year-old pond in Chittagong
Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
. They then ordered the removal of 2,181 illegal structures from the banks of Karnaphuli River
Karnaphuli ( bn, কর্ণফুলি ''Kôrnophuli''; also spelt Karnafuli), or Khawthlangtuipui (in Mizo, meaning "western river"), is the largest and most important river in Chattogram and the Chattogram Hill Tracts. It is a wide rive ...
. One of his judgments appears in the 2017 ''Leading Cases of India Pakistan and Bangladesh''.
On 7 June 2013, Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain warned Hasan and cautioned him to be more careful in the future as not to damage the image of the judiciary. Hasan was travelling in a two car entourage when his vehicles was stopped at Bangabandhu bridge
Bangabandhu Bridge, also known as the Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge ( bn, যমুনা বহুমুখী সেতু ''Jomuna Bohumukhi Setu'') is a bridge opened in Bangladesh in June 1998. It connects Bhuapur on the Jamuna River's east b ...
for the bridge toll by Asaduzzaman, supervisor of the toll plaza at the bridge after Hasan initially refused to pay. Hasan then pain the toll and filed a contempt of court complaint with Bangabandhu Bridge Police Station who then arrested Asaduzzaman. Supervisor Asaduzzaman was sent to Sirajganj District jail and secured bail from Sirajganj District court.
In an interview with ''Sangbad Chitra'' published in August 1992, Hasan opined that the Indemnity Ordinance of 1975 was beyond the constitutional powers of Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. He also asserted that the murderers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family should be brought to justice. His 2020 article ''The Liberation War 1971: Its Legitimacy Under the International Law'', which appeared in a special edition of the RAB, was written as a tribute to Rahman and provided insight into the Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...
. In 2021, he was a keynote speaker at a Dhaka WASA
Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority () is a Bangladesh government agency under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives responsible for water and sewage in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and Narayanganj. Taq ...
webinar and presented "Development Plans of Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...
and the Present Day Realities" to honour of what would have been Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's 100th birthday.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasan, Md. Rezaul
Living people
1962 births
University of Dhaka alumni
20th-century Bangladeshi lawyers
Supreme Court of Bangladesh justices
21st-century Bangladeshi judges