Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar ( ; born 1 December 1931) is a Bangladeshi lawyer and politician who served as the acting

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 2002. He served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Bangladesh. He is one of the founding members of the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

and was a member of the standing committee, which was the policy making body of the party, from its inception. He also establishe
Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar Collegiate Institute
in Panchagarh in 1990.

Early life

Sircar was born on 1 December 1931 to a Bengali family of

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Sircars in the village of Nayabari in Tetulia, Jalpaiguri district,

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 ...

(now in Panchagarh District,

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). He was the son of jotedar Moulvi Ali Baksh and

stay-at-home mother A stay-at-home mother (alternatively, stay-at-home mom or SAHM) is a mother who is the primary caregiver of the children. The male equivalent is the stay-at-home dad. The gender-neutral term is stay-at-home parent. Stay-at-home mom is distinct ...

Begum Fakhrunnessa. He obtained his M.A and LL.B degrees from the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

and joined the bar to practice law in 1960. He left for London in 1961 for the degree of Barrister-at-Law and was admitted and called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, to practice law as a member of the English Bar as well as Commonwealth Countries Bar.

Career

Sircar went on the

Supreme Court of Bangladesh Supreme Court of Bangladesh () is the highest court of law in the country. It is composed of the High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, High Court Division and the Appellate Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Appellate Division, ...

to work as a Lawyer in

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

, civil and

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

s. In 1977, he was selected by the then President

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 ...

as a member of the Bangladesh Delegation to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

. As a delegate he looked after the Legal Committee and continued in this role for the next four years between 1977 and 1980. In 1981, as a State Minister of

Bangladesh Government The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the le ...

for the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, he travelled to the UN to make deliberation on

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

peace process A peace process is the set of political sociology, sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict. Definitions Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of ...

and

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing Weapon, weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, ...

. He later attended the Non-aligned Movement's Labor Ministers Conference in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. He was elected to the Parliament as a candidate of Bangladesh Nationalist Party from Panchagarh-1 in the General Election of 1996 & 2001 and from Dhaka-9 in the by-election of 1991 in the seat of Begum Khaleda Zia. He lost the election in the December 2008. He was elected in Parliament in a by-election from Bogra-6 on 3 April 2009. Bogra-6 was vacated, along with Bogra-7, by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. From 28 October 2001 to 25 January 2009, Sircar served as the

Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad The Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Bangladesh. The speaker is elected generally in the first meeting of the parliament following general elections by Members of Parliament. Serving for a term of ...

. On 21 June 2002, he became acting president because of the resignation of A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury. He remained acting president until a new president was elected on 6 September 2002. As speaker he refused to allow discussion on the 2004 Dhaka grenade attack in Parliament. He faced criticism for being partisan in allocating seats in the parliament. In 2008, his defence of Bangladesh Nationalist Party and call for it return to power drew criticism. The Daily Star wrote that the speaker should be above political fray. On 13 April 2009, an Awami League led parliamentary probe body reported that Sircar took 2.7 million taka unlawfully as medical bill without the permission of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia during his tenure as speaker of the parliament. On 8 November 2012, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed charges against him, alleging he misappropriating 3.3 million taka. Sircar moved the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and the proceedings were stayed and thereafter the Appellate Division passed an order to dispose off Sircar's judicial review applications before the High Court Division In March 2023, he deposited Tk 2.8 million (27.86 lakh) to the state exchequer following a court judgment in the graft case. In 2018, Sircar worked as the defense lawyer of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.

Personal life

Sircar was married to Nur Akhtar (–2023). Together they have a daughter, Nilufar Jamir and two sons, Nawshad Zamir and Naufal Zamir. Apart from his political life, he was the founder of th
Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar Collegiate Institute
in his birthplace, Panchagarh.

Bibliography

* Glimpses of International Law (1997); * The Law of the Sea (2003); * Stronger United Nations for Peaceful Welfare World (2003); * London-er Chatro Andolon Bangla (2005); * London-e Bondhu Bandhob Bangla (2006); * Oshtom Shongshoder Speaker Bangla (2006); * Pal Raj theke Plolashi ebong British Raj theke Bongo Bhobon Bangla (2006). * Law of the International Rivers and others Water Courses (2007); * Pakistan-er Gonotontrer Biporjoy ebong Shadhin Bangladesh-er Obbhuddoy Bangla (2008)

References

Footnotes Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sircar, Muhammad Jamiruddin 1931 births Living people People from Panchagarh District Politicians from Rangpur Division University of Dhaka alumni 7th Jatiya Sangsad members Presidents of Bangladesh Speakers of the Jatiya Sangsad Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians 8th Jatiya Sangsad members State ministers of land State ministers of housing and public works of Bangladesh State ministers of foreign affairs of Bangladesh Ministers of law, justice and parliamentary affairs of Bangladesh Ministers of education of Bangladesh Ministers of science and technology of Bangladesh 9th Jatiya Sangsad members