History of Mymensingh Judgeship

During the Mughal rule, the judicial power of this district was in the hands of the Kazi. Where there was no Kazi, the zamindars of the pargana used to administer justice. Zamindars' revenue defaults were tried in the capital. The zamindars were often not disciplined if they defaulted on anything other than revenue payments. The common people silently tolerated the tyranny of the zamindar. This rule was prevalent even at the beginning of the British rule. The zamindars used to pay their revenue to the collectorate of Dhaka. In case of default in revenue payment, company men would arrest the zamindar or his bureaucrats. The company had little relation with the public. The complaints of the subjects were judged by the zamindars.

Mymensingh District was established on 1st May 1787. After the establishment of Mymensingh District Mr. Rotton was first appointed as Judge, Magistrate and Collector. Even if such powers were conferred, the Collector would not inquire into any matter other than the collection of revenue. In 1789 Stephens Baird succeeded Mr. Rotton as Judge, Magistrate, Collectorate. At that time the area of Mymensingh district was very large. Faraway places like Taraf in Srihatt district, Meher Sarail in Tripura district, Velua in Noakhali district, Bardakhat, Sirajganj in Pabna district, Tura in Assam were under Mymensingh district.

From 1787 to 1791, the English were only concerned with the revenue settlement in the district, and did nothing to establish justice and governance. Earlier the work of judicial and administrative department was carried out by zamindars, leaseholders, and casuals. Ordinary justice was administered by the Gramya Panchayat. Although the Collector had the powers of Magistrate and Judge, he did not get the opportunity or leisure to exercise them. Villagers would "eat kill and steal kill" yet would not come abroad to die in trouble.

At that time not all zamindars had judicial power; The zamindars who customarily paid the revenue usually had judicial power over them. Without the power given by the government, all the landowners, big and small, looked after the judicial system of their respective areas. There was no one to judge their injustice. There was no one to measure the tyranny and injustice of the places where subjects were litigated and masters and subjects conflicted and master's deep interests existed.

In 1792, when additional Tahsil Kacharis were established for the district, the District Collector entrusted the burden of Tahsil work on them and focused on justice and administration. In 1793, when Lord Cornwallis's Commentaries on Government and Justice were published, the extra baggage was removed and the civil department was separated.

Mymensingh judge court was established in April 1793. According to the Judicial Proceedings of the Counselor Governor General dated May 12, 1793, Judge and Magistrate Voltaire Maguire established the Judiciary and Judiciary Department in this district by accepting the powers of Judiciary and Judiciary from the Collector Baird. From that, British justice and governance was introduced in this district. In 1834, the post of Judge was separated and Magistrate and Collector became one person. A total of 56 district judges served from 1834 to 1900. Later, from 1901 to 2022, a total of 78 judges served and are serving as District Judge, Mymensingh.

In 1834 Mr. was appointed only as a judge. T. Watt. He served till 1836. Then 1837-1838 GC Chip, 1838 JM Hay, 1839-1840 R Torrance, 1840-41 W Oslo, 1842-43 T Taylor and JTG Cook, 1844-45 T Taylor and CT Davidson, 1846-49 T Taylor, 1850-52 RE Cunliffey, 1853 W T Trotter, 1854-55 RE Cunliffey, JH Peyton, 1856-58 W T Trotter, 1859 W Taylor, ES Pearson, J Doubly Delbymple, H V Bailey and F AB Graver, 1860 HJ Jackson, HV Bailey, 1861 FAB Graver, CH Campbell and EF Lotter, 1862 CH Campbell, JV Dodson, VH Scales, 1863-65 JC Dodson, 1865f BC Simson, 1866-67 A Levin, FBC Simson, 1867 A Levin, 1867-68 H Machpreter, 1869 EW Moloney; H. Much Pratt, 1869-70 W. J. Money; A. R. Thomson, 1871-72 W. J. Money; W. Cornell; AR Thomson' H Machpret, 1873 A Abercrombie; 1874 WJ Money; C Pratt in 1875-76; Jay Money; 1877 JP Grant; ES Mosley; 1878 WJ Money; 1879-80 T.M. Karrkud; A W will coach; G. E. Parter; 1881 T D Byton; 1882-83 Jay Crawford; G G Day; 1884-86 JF Stevens; 1886 HFF Matthews; HP Peterson; 1887 RF Rampini; J Prad, 1888 H P Peterson; 1889 FJG Kembell; HP Peterson; CP Kesparz, 1890 J Kelleher; 1891 D Cameron, FH Harding; 1895 E Geek; R. H. Anderson, 1896 W. H. Lee, R. H. Anderson, 1897 AP Penal, 1898 Ambika Charan Sen, HS Hamilton, 1899-1900 Ambika Charan Sen, 1901 C. P. Beech Cropt, B. B. Nickle, 1902 W. T. Nunn, 1903 W. H. Lee, 1904-05 J. E. Webster, 1906 A. E. Harward, J. N. Roy; 1907-11 H Walmsley, RR Garlick, 1912 JD Cargill; 1913 MC Ghosh; 1914 JD Cargill; 1916 W. A. Seaton; 1919 JP Hough; 1921 F Dubø Ward; 1922 C Beatle; 1922-23 HC Maitland; 1923-25 M Yusuf, JCH McNair; 1926 to JC Seng; 1926-27 RR Garlick; Henderson in 1928; 1928-29 Jay Davie Nelson; Henderson, 1929-30; 1930-34 RF Lodge; 1934-35 HGS Beaver; 1935-39 SM Masir; 1939-42 HG Waite; 1942-43 S Sen; 1944-45 BK Basu, ES Simpson 1946 AS Roy; 1947-48 Mahatab Uddin Ahmad; 1948-49 HGS Beaver; 1949-50 Obaidus Sobhan; 1950-52 ASM Salek; 1952-54 Sahar Uddin Ahmed; 1954-56 Abdul Jabbar Khan; 1956-57 MA Rob, Mahmud Ali Khan; 1957-59 M Idris; 1959-61 Noor Muhammad Khan; 1961-64 Abdul Hakim Khan; 1964-66 Ghulam Mawla; 1966-67 ASM Rased, Misbahul Islam; 1967-68 Abul Kasem; 1967-70 Md. Amir Ali Zoardar; 1970-71 Azim Uddin Ahmed; 1971-73 Amanullah Khan; 1973 AM Chowdhury; 1973-75 MA Khalek; 1975-77 K A Rauf; 1977-80 AR Chowdhury; 1980-82 MA Wahab; 1982 MA Chowdhury; 1983 Asadujjavar 1984 Md SK Sadek 1985-87 MA Karim, Md Afzalul Haque 1988-89 Md Sirajul Islam 1989-91 Moniruzzaman 1991-92 Md Abu Mucha Chowdhury; 1992-93 Md Abdus Salam 1993-94 Nazrul Islam Khan 1994-95 MA Ahad Chowdhury 1995-98 Md Zulfikar Ali; 1998-2001 AKM Fazlur Rahman; 2001-04 Sahiduzzaman; 2005-08 Md. Anisuzzaman; 2008 Md. Abu Bakr Siddiqui; 2008-10 Sahidul Karim; 2010-11 Biplab Gosmami; 2011-2015 Nurul Huda; 2015 Md. Rafiqul Alam; 2016-18 Dr. Mohammad Amir Ali; 2018-19 Syed Enayet Hossain; 2019-22 Md. Helal Uddin served and 04. From 10.2022, Begum, Mumtaz Parveen is serving as District Judge.

By 1871, 10 criminal and 14 civil courts were established in Mymensingh district. 9 Chowkis (Munsefi Courts) respectively- 1) Mymensingh Sadar, 2) Ishwarganj, 3) Jamalpur, 4) Sherpur, 5) Kishoreganj, 6) Bajitpur, 7) Tangail, 8) Pingna, 9) Netrakona.

District Bar Association, Mymensingh was established in 1880 AD. Mymensingh initially had not more than 25/30 lawyers. At that time none of the lawyers knew English, almost all were educated in Bengali. 2/1 also knew Persian language. Gangatiar Bholnath Chakraborty, Jagatchandra Chowdhury, Sasthidhar Majumdar, Govindraprasad Bose, Nandakumar Baksi, Kalikumar Dutta, Gangadhar Ghosh, Kalimohan Dutta and Gangadas Guha were the chief advocates of Mymensingh. Needless to say none of them knew English except Gangadas Guha. Gangadas Guha, an English-speaking lawyer, was the first to practice here, followed by Kalishankar Guha. Here there were no seats or rules in the judges' chambers. All lawyers had to stand. Earlier, lawyer Kalimohan Dutt, a resident of Bhuldia under Hossainpur, had a lot of arguments with the judge and gave seats to the lawyers. Kalimohanbabu was a very legal and brave man. Vikrampur resident lawyer Kalikumar Dutta was a blessed man of country fame. His gift of power has made him immortal. He was popularly called Datha Kalikumar. Such a philanthropic man is not found everywhere. At that time, many of the Hakims also did not know English. Earlier the Smriti Shastragya Brahmin Pandits of our country were appointed as Munsef (Assistant Judge) and Sub-Judge (Joint District Judge). They tried in court according to Hindu Dayabhaga School. People used to call Sub-Judge as Sadar Ala or Ala Sadar Amin.

Begum Mamtaz Parvin, Senior District and Sessions Judge, has been serving as the first lady District and Sessions Judge in the 236-year history of Mymensingh District and among 135 separate District Judges since 2022. Mymensingh Judiciary is the first district in Bangladesh to achieve the 'Chief Justice Medal' introduced in 2022.