22 Facts About Shahabuddin Ahmed

Shahabuddin Ahmed was a Bangladeshi head of state who served as the president of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001, and the chief justice of Bangladesh from 1990 to 1995.

Shahabuddin Ahmed headed a caretaker government and oversaw a general election in February 1991.

Shahabuddin Ahmed's father Talukdar Resat Ahmed Bhuiyan was a philanthropist.

Shahabuddin Ahmed attended a special course in public administration at the University of Oxford.

Shahabuddin Ahmed joined the Civil Service of Pakistan in 1954, completed training in the Lahore Civil Services Academy and at the University of Oxford.

Shahabuddin Ahmed worked as additional district and session judge of Dhaka and Barisal, and as district and sessions judge of Comilla and Chittagong.

Shahabuddin Ahmed was elevated to the bench of the High Court on 20 January 1972 and acted on deputation at the Labour Appellate Tribunal for two years, 1973 and 1974.

Shahabuddin Ahmed was appointed a judge of the appellate division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 7 February 1980 and was confirmed in this office on 15 April 1981.

Shahabuddin Ahmed was the chairman of the Commission of Inquiry established under the Commission of Inquiry Act on police firing on the students in mid-February 1983.

Shahabuddin Ahmed was the chairman of the National Pay Commission in 1984 and submitted a report which provided the basis for the upward revision of pay scales.

Shahabuddin Ahmed was appointed the chief justice of Bangladesh on 14 January 1990.

Later that day Ershad resigned and Shahabuddin Ahmed took over as the acting president of the country.

Shahabuddin Ahmed was chosen by all political parties including Ershad to hold the interim government that would oversee the neutral election to parliament.

Shahabuddin Ahmed administered the oath of office to his council of advisors at Bangabhaban on 9 December 1990 and held the first meeting on 15 December 1990.

Shahabuddin Ahmed resigned from the presidency on 9 October 1991 and the next day returned to his previous post of chief justice from which he eventually retired on 1 February 1995.

Shahabuddin Ahmed was elected president unopposed on 23 July 1996 after having been nominated by the Awami League government and sworn in on 9 October the same year.

Shahabuddin Ahmed was chairman of the Bangladesh Red Cross Society, from August 1978 to April 1982 in addition to his duties as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Shahabuddin Ahmed set up a number of rural hospitals maternity centres, in particular, the Teligati Red Cross Hospital which was financed by the Swiss Red Cross.

Shahabuddin Ahmed was a member of the Bangladesh government delegation to the 10th Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Islamic countries held in Fez, Morocco in 1979 where the question of setting up an International Islamic Red Crescent Society was debated.

Shahabuddin Ahmed was married to Anowara Begum from 1937 to 2018.

In February 2022, Shahabuddin Ahmed was taken to the intensive care unit of the Combined Military Hospital due to an aging-associated disease.

Shahabuddin Ahmed died on 19 March 2022 at the Combined Military Hospital at the age of 92.