Rahman, (Justice) Latifur (1936- )  jurist, head of the caretaker government of Bangladesh in 2001. He was born in Jessore on 1 March 1936. After completing his school education at the Jessore Zila School and the college education at the Dhaka College, Latifur Rahman passed BA Honours (1955) and MA (1956) in English Literature from the University of Dhaka. Subsequently, he also completed LLB from the same university.

At the beginning of his professional career, Latifur Rahman served as a lecturer at the Quaed-e-Azam College (now Shaheed Suhrawardy College) and Jagannath College. He started his profession as a lawyer at the Dhaka High Court after being enlisted at the bar in 1960. To start with, he was an apprentice under MH Khondoker, who became the first Attorney General of Bangladesh after its independence. In 1979, Latifur Rahman was appointed additional judge at the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, where he became a permanent judge in 1981.

Latifur Rahman

He joined as a judge at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on 15 January 1991 and was elevated to Chief Justice on 1 January 2001. On 28 February 2001, he retired from his service as the Chief Justice.

According to the constitutional provision for caretaker government, Justice Latifur Rahman, as the last retiring chief justice, took oath as the head of the caretaker government of Bangladesh on 15 July 2001. The elections of the eighth parliament of the country were held under him on 1 October 2001, and he retired on 10 October when begum khaleda zia took oath as elected prime minister.

Latifur Rahman described the experience of the 87 days of his administration as the head of the government in a book Tattabadhayak Sarkarer Dinguli O Amar Katha (The Days of the Caretaker Government and My Account).

[Helal Uddin Ahmed]