Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem (29 March 1916 – 8 July 1997) was a Bangladeshi jurist and

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

. He was the first

Chief Justice of Bangladesh The chief justice of Bangladesh ( – ) is the highest-ranking judge of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and the head of the country's judiciary, overseeing both the Supreme Court and all subordinate courts. The chief justice is appointed by the ...

from 1972 to 1975. He became the

president of Bangladesh President of Bangladesh (POB), officially the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is the head of state of Bangladesh and commander-in-chief of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The role of the president has changed three times since ...

in the aftermath of counter-coups in November 1975. He held post of Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA). Sayem presided over a cabinet headed by the three chiefs of the armed forces. The cabinet included civilian technocrats and politicians. Sayem resigned on grounds of ill health in April 1977, and was replaced by

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

Early life

Sayem was born on 29 March 1916 in

Rangpur district Rangpur District () is a district in northern Bengal, It is a part of Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. Geography Under the Rangpur Division (one of eight divisions) composed of eight districts of northern Bangladesh, the District of Rangpur is bo ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He attended the Rangpur District School and Carmichael College. He later attended Presidency College in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

and graduated from the University Law College of

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

Career

Sayem started working as an advocate at the Calcutta High Court in 1944. After

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947, he moved to Dhaka, East Bengal, Pakistan. He joined the newly established Dhaka High Court. He joined the law firm Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Huq as a junior advocate. He was elected secretary of Dhaka High Court Bar Association. He was later elected vice president of the Bar association. He was a member of the East Pakistan Lawyers’ Association. He would be elected Secretary, Secretary General, and the vice-president of the East Pakistan Lawyers’ Association. Sayem was also elected to the local board of the

State Bank of Pakistan The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the central bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was nationalised and the scope ...

. He was appointed judge in the Dhaka High Court on 3 July 1962. He served in the Commission of Enquiry for finding out the causes of exodus and eviction of the members of the minority community in 1967. In 1970, he was appointed to the Delimitation Commission responsible for the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies. He was appointed to the Election Commission. In 1971, Bangladesh became an independent country following the Bangladesh War of Independence. On 12 January 1972, Sayem was made the Chief Justice of the

Bangladesh High Court The High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh (), popularly known as High Court, is one of the two divisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the other division being the Appellate Division. It consists of the Chief Justice of Bangla ...

. On 17 December 1972, he was made the Chief Justice of Bangladesh following the creation of

Bangladesh Supreme Court Supreme Court of Bangladesh () is the highest court of law in the country. It is composed of the High Court Division and the Appellate Division, and was established by Part VI, Chapter I (Article 94) of the Constitution of Bangladesh, adopte ...

. He gave the verdict on the important Berubari Case concerning the exchange of enclaves between Bangladesh and India. Sayem assumed the office of President and Chief Martial Law Administrator on 6 November 1975 following the

3 November 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

by Brigadier General

Khaled Mosharraf Khaled Mosharraf (; 9 November 1937 – 7 November 1975) was a two star officer in Bangladesh Army, who is known for his role in the Bangladesh Liberation War and the subsequent coups in post-independence Bangladesh. After deposing Khondakar ...

. On 29 November 1976, he removed himself from the office of the Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) and was replaced by Major General

, Chief of Army Staff. Zia had pressured him into resigning from his role as CMLA, with the support of the other service chiefs, Deputy Army Chief General Ershad, General Manzur and General Mir Shawkat Ali. On 21 April 1977, he resigned from the presidency of Bangladesh on health grounds. Major General-later Lieutenant General Ziaur Rahman eventuallly succeeded him as the president of Bangladesh.

Death

He died on 8 July 1997 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sayem, Abu Sadat Mohammad 1916 births 1997 deaths Awami League politicians Supreme Court of Bangladesh justices Presidents of Bangladesh University of Calcutta alumni Chief justices of Bangladesh Carmichael College alumni People from Rangpur District