Saturday | 11 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Saturday | 11 January 2025 | Epaper
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Justice Murshed remembered

Published : Saturday, 11 January, 2025 at 12:00 AM  Count : 93
Nyema Khanam
Syed Mahbub Murshed was undoubtedly among the most striking public figures that appeared in our national scene. Born in 1911 in perhaps the most distinguished families of Muslim Bengal, he had shown signs of his vastly talented abilities from an early age. He obtained BA (Honours) degree in Economics from Calcutta Presidency College in 1931, MA from Calcutta University in 1932 and LL.B degree in 1933. 

After becoming a barrister from Lincoln's Inn, London, in 1939 he joined the Calcutta High Court Bar. He joined the Dhaka High Court Bar in 1951, and was appointed a judge of the High Court in 1955. He was a judge of the Pakistan Supreme Court in 1962-63. In 1964, he became the Chief Justice of Dhaka High Court, and resigned from service on 15 November 1967 The late playwright and litterateur, the late Professor Nural Momen, recalls in his essay, the on the  youthful Murshed in his Presidency College days at Calcutta. "The great expectations he had  aroused among his contemporaries had also stated like the late Dr Nobo Gopal Das ICS from his student days were subsequently materialised.
 
After a brilliant academic career both in the Subcontinent and England, Syed Mahbub Murshed had begun his career as a lawyer in the late thirties of last century, where he soon made his mark in the Calcutta Bar. His attachment to the Bar and to members of the legal profession lasted till the end of his days. Later on in life, while serving as a Chief Justice in the bench he would talk nostalgically about the Bar. The Bar he said is "my professional home, a place where I shall continually return; even when I am dead my disembodied soul shall hover around the precents of the Bar."

His affection for people of his profession was deep During his farewell speech from the bench.  After his premature retirement or resignation as Chief Justice while addressing to a standing ovation Murshed concluded his speech by stating "I salute you-- you who were my erstwhile comrades, the members of the Bar."

In 1954 he was elevated to the bench of the High Court of the Eastern wing at Dhaka. As a judge, Justice Murshed remained committed to his lifelong ideals of liberty, justice and excellence. His Judicial pronouncements were delivered as a High Court Judge and briefly in the Supreme Court and then as Chief Justice clearly reflected these ideals.

Some of Justice Murshed's judgements created constitutional history and not only won him national fame but international acclaim. He will always be remembered in history for fearlessly upholding the rule of law. He remained a reflection of courage despite pressures from the highest quarters. As Chief Justice in a Judgement he stated that " it is not the use but the abuse of power that the Courts are meant to readdress." Hence, he will remain a Titan in the judicial arena of South Asia for his landmark judgements. Not being a lawyer, I will not comment more, except I will say that Chief Justice Murshed are among the finest treatises in legal history and vastly quoted as references by lawyers not only in Bangladesh but also in other SAARC countries like Pakistan and India.

A master in oratory Murshed would hold his audience spellbound whether written or speaking extempore he would captivate the listening gathering by his eloquent speeches. Being a humanitarian all his life the famine that griped Bengal in the early forties of the last century and the communal riots in 1946 moved him to found the Anjuman Mufidul Islam. As a sitting Judge in the fifties he worked relentlessly as Chairman of the Red Cross. Murshed also fought for our cultural freedom as he organised Tagore Century all over in what is now Bangladesh, despite the obstacles he faced from the then Pakistani military leadership.

In the political arena Murshed will remain unparalleled. 

After the partition of the Sub-continent in 1947, Murshed was among the persons who put to motion the process that culminated in the Nehru-Liaquat pact. He was drawn into the vortex of the language movement and along with his uncle the Sher- e-Bangla broke section 144 in 1952.

In early 1954, just before becoming a Judge, Murshed along with Abul Mansoor Ahmed drafted the Manifesto for the Jukta Front government led by his Uncle. Again it was these two that put the final varnish to the six points which Sheikh Mujib fought and was jailed for. In 1966 Mazharul Haque Baki, the then President of the Chhatra League, and Mr Serejul Alam Khan none dared but Chief Justice Murshed to Chair their annual conference where Murshed also like Sheikh Mujib gave a clarion call for provisional autonomy.

On his resignation as Chief Justice, the first thing Murshed did was to organise the defence of the Agartala Conspiracy case. It is mainly on account of him that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman did not have to come out on parole and all others were set free unconditionally. Murshed's active participation in the mass upsurge in 1969 further earned him respect. It was his protest resignation as Chief Justice that the public of both wings felt he was the only acceptable candidate to run against President Ayub.

The agitation that Justice Murshed created with the then High Court Bar on account of the constitutional hiatus that prevailed went to such an extreme that no Judge was willing to give oath to General Tikka Khan-the governor designated in March 1971. His refusal to collaborate with the Pakistani military authorities during our War of Liberation is also recorded.

Another significant matter was, during the Round Table Conference while President Ayub was virtually on his knees and in addition to the dissolution of the one unit in the western wing; Justice Murshed demanded one man one vote. Prior to this, in the National Assembly, there was a parity of 150 seats each for both the eastern and western wing. One man one vote was accepted; the eastern wing got 169 out of 300 seats. Thus he paved the way that whoever won the majority in the eastern wing would form the national government.

In 1977 he advised the late Ziaur Rahman to form what is now SAARC. Hence Justice Murshed is living history. I can only conclude by saying about him the same passage he said about his Uncle the Sher E Bangla, he was a king without the trappings of a monarch, for he had built an empire in the hearts of his fellowmen.

Apart from playing an active part in the Language Movement (1952) he contributed significantly to the formation of the united front in 1954. He played a leading role in organizing the birth centenary of Rabindranath Tagore in 1961 as chairman of the organizing committee.

Justice Murshed waged his struggle from the seat of justice in order to establish Rule of Law and fundamental human rights at a time when the democratic rights of the people were curtailed during the rule of Mohammad Ayub Khan. He played an active role in the anti-Ayub Mass Upsurge of 1969. He extended support to the 11-points of the student community, and exerted pressure on the government for the release of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the withdrawal of agartala conspiracy case. He spoke in favour of autonomy of East Bengal based on the six-point programme which he gave the final varnish and parliamentary democracy at the round table conference convened by Ayub Khan. At that time, his clashes with the provincial governor Monaem Khan were quite well known. He supported the War of Liberation in 1971.

Although he earned a reputation as a lawyer, Syed Mahbub Murshed fame spread far and wide as a judge. He strove very hard to uphold the dignity and neutrality of a judge. His historic verdicts in the Minister's Case, Colonel Bhattacharya case and the Pan Case were the bright examples of a courageous judge devoted to proper dispensation of justice. 

He was born on 11th January 1911 and became a major part of our history.

The Writer is a poet, cultural activist and a professor at the Navy College



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