The Supreme Court has suspended its activities for half a day to commemorate the death of veteran politician and former speaker Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar.
Attorney General Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal said that the proceedings of the Appellate Division will be suspended at 11am and the proceedings of the High Court Division at 1pm on Sunday following the death of Sircar, who also served as a former acting president.
The proceedings of the Chamber Judge’s court will be completely suspended for the day, the country's chief law official said.
Sircar died while undergoing treatment at Bangladesh Specialized Hospital in Dhaka’s Shyamoli early on Sunday morning.
Born on Dec 1, 1931, in Nayabari village of Panchagarh’s Tentulia, Sircar was the son of Maulvi Muhammad Aziz Baksh.
He earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the University of Dhaka. He later completed an LLB and obtained the qualification of barrister-at-law from Lincoln's Inn in London.
After completing his education, he enrolled as an advocate of the then East Pakistan High Court and began practicing law on May 27, 1960. He became a distinguished constitutional, civil, and criminal law expert at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
Sircar was also a founding member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
He served as the state minister for public works and urban development during the time of former president Ziaur Rahman. During his tenure, the work on the Parliament Building was completed.
He later served as state minister for foreign affairs under president Abdus Sattar. Following the 1991 general election, he became state minister for land in prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia's cabinet, and subsequently served as minister for education and minister for science and technology.
In the short-lived government formed after the 6th parliament, he served as minister for law from Mar 19 to Mar 30, 1996. During that period, he introduced the caretaker government bill in parliament.
He served as speaker of the 8th National Parliament.
