Mahmudul Islam, not only a
famous lawyer but also an eminent personality in our judiciary who passes away
at the age of 79 on 16 February. His death occur irreparable loss to the nation.
He is the most talented constitutional jurist in the current era in the country.
His book titled the Constitutional Law of Bangladesh is the most adorable and
cited constitutional law book among others. As a legendary senior advocate, his
role was vibrant. As an interpreter of law, his every word was a pearl
of wisdom in the horizon of legal arena. Lifelong he fought for ensuring
justice and rights of the citizen under the constitution and other legal
frameworks. Indeed he was the lighthouse of our contemporary judiciary.
Photo: The Daily Star
However, Mr. Islam made himself
illustrious to others by his elite techniques of submission to the court. The
unpretentious capitulations of this legend of wisdom magnated the judges
towards his elucidation. The entire judiciary was benefited by his rare
scholarly flair. His sober attitude to address the court was conspicuous. He
was man of graciousness and was always tolerant of different points of view. Albeit
he was gentle in his approach to the people as a whole but quite firm in his
views. Even he never took much remuneration for his dedication from his client.
Mahmudul
Islam was treated as torch-bearer in any treacherous situation in our judiciary
and he handled the circumstance with his extraordinary brilliance. He led the
nation in various critical periods like caretaker government into the right
course to the future and he became the ethical voice of the nation.
Apart from this contribution to the
court, Mr. Islam contributed greatly to our legal studies also. This top legal
brain’s most celebrated work i.e. the Constitutional Law of Bangladesh becomes
an authority on Bangladesh constitution. Everyone from inside and outside the
country is searching Islam’s constitution book to find out an exact
interpretation on any constitutional matter. His thinking on constitutional
affair was very blunt and he articulated his intelligence in an outspoken
manner. It emerged as bible of constitutional law in Bangladesh. Even his book
is the most cited book on constitutional law issues in our supreme court and
judges are also relying impulsively on his thought and magical interpretation.
Nevertheless, Islam was not confined
himself in the royal arena of constitutional law. He introduced another branch
of his acumen on civil procedure code along with the aid of Probir Neogi.
Indeed his pen was a golden stick, what he touched turned into gold. Two
volumes book on the Law of Civil Procedure is another treasured creation of
Mahmudul Islam. This book is also referred as authoritative guideline for both
subordinate and supreme judiciary. However, Islam’s book on Interpretation of
Statutes and Documents was latest addition of his scholarly contribution to our
legal education. This learned personality focused on our own style of
interpretation. He was a jeweler who taught us to bring out the pearls from the
mollusk. His sentences are lively and citations are practical to understand. His
glorifying and glittering contributions throughout the whole life made him
giant. In many occasions the Supreme Court had sought his opinion as amicus
curiae in several significant cases like Quader Mollah case, 5 January election
case, BDR mutiny case, 13th amendment case, 7th amendment case etc.
Mahmudul Islam was
born in Rangpur in 1936. His father Azizul Islam was also a prominent lawyer in
Rangpur. He passed his higher secondary level from Rangpur Carmichael college
while he achieved his law degree from Dhaka University after completing honours
and masters on political science from the same university. After the independence
of Bangladesh, he received his LLM degree from Indiana University in the
US. He started his initial career at Rangpur District Bar, later on he
started practice in the High Court Division. He worked as a junior with lawyer
Birendra Nath Chowdhury and then with Syed Ishtiak Ahmed. Mahmudul Islam
became assistant attorney general in 1972. Then he served as the state’s top
legal officer from 1998 to 2001.
This renowned
figure passed away bodily but his enthusiastic legacy will encourage the whole
nation for years to come spiritually and ethically. Not only the judicial
premises, but also the whole nation will be indebted to Mahmudul Islam for his wisdom
and great contribution to the country. He was an actual banyan tree of wisdom
in our judiciary.
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