Syed Mahbub Murshed (11 February 1911 – 3 April 1979) was a Bangladeshi lawyer and jurist. He served as the Chief Justice of East Pakistan High Court during 1964–1967.

Early life and education

Murshed was born to his parents Syed Abdus Salek, a member of the Bengal Civil Service and Afzalunnessa Begum, a sister of Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq. Murshed obtained his bachelor's degree in economics from

Presidency College, Calcutta Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly known as Presidency College, Kolkata) is a second major public state aided research university located in College Street, Kolkata. Considered as one of best colleges when Presidency College was affili ...

in 1931, masters from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

in 1932, and L.L.B degree in 1933. In 1939, he became a barrister from

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in London.

Career

Murshed became a member of the Calcutta High Court Bar in 1934. Returning from England in 1939, he started practicing as a senior advocate of the

Federal Court of India The Federal Court of India was a judicial body, established in British India, India in 1937 under the provisions of the ''Government of India Act 1935'', with original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction. It functioned until the Supreme Court of I ...

. In 1951, he migrated to the then Pakistan and joined the Dhaka High Court Bar in 1951. He was elevated to a judge of the Dhaka High Court bench in 1955. He served as an ad hoc judge of the

Pakistan Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate ...

during 1962–1963. He was appointed Chief Justice of East Pakistan High Court in May 1964. He resigned from the position in November 1967. According to the former Chief Justice of Bangladesh

Latifur Rahman Latifur Rahman (1 March 1936 – 6 June 2017) was the 10th Chief Justice and the 2nd Chief Adviser of Bangladesh. Early life and education Rahman was born in Jessore on 1 March 1936. His father was the lawyer Khan Bahadur Lutfur Rahman. His m ...

, some of the notable judgments delivered by Murshed was Abdul Haque's case, the Pan case, the Basic Democracies case and the case of Lt Colonel GL Bhattacharya. Former president of Pakistan

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

commented, "Murshed has a brilliant, intelligent, literary bent of mind and aptitude for language, but he is impulsive and unstable". Murshed joined the mass movement against Ayub in late 1968. A contemporary report in

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

stated, "The opposition cause was also boosted by widely respected Syed Mahbub Murshed, former Chief Justice of the East Pakistan High Court, who told the nation that 'We are not destined to perish in ignominy if we put up a determined and united resistance to evi1'". During the Bengal famine of 1943 and later during the communal riots of 1946, Murshed worked with the welfare organization

Anjuman Mufidul Islam Anjuman Mufidul Islam ( bn, আঞ্জুমান মফিদুল ইসলাম ''Beneficial Assembly of Islam'') is a Bangladeshi welfare organisation specially designed to enrich the livelihood of orphans and the distressed. History Sh ...

Personal life

Murshed was married to Lyla Arzumand Banu, a daughter of Mohammed Zakariah, an Indian Nationalist and Mayor of Calcutta in 1939. Together they had three sons – Syed Marghub Murshed, a former civil servant (CSP), Syed Mamnun Murshed, an academic and diplomat, and Syed Mansood Murshed, an educationalist, and one daughter, Syeda Shaida Murshed.

Legacy

In 1990,

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

released a stamp commemorating Murshed.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murshed, Syed Mahbub 1911 births 1979 deaths Bangladeshi judges Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan