S. M. Kuddus Zaman

Zaman was born on 12 August 1960 in Bhabanipur, Rajbari District, East Pakistan, Pakistan.[1] He graduated from Rajbari Government High School and Rajbari Government College in 1975 and 1978, respectively.[1] He completed his bachelor's and master's in law from the University of Dhaka in 1982 and 1983, respectively.[1]

Zaman joined the judicial branch of the Bangladesh Civil Service on 22 February 1984 as a munsif.[1] He was promoted to Senior Assistant Judge and Joint District Judge.[1]

From March to April 2006, Zaman visited the United States as part of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to study the Plea bargain system.[1] He was promoted to District Judge on 9 October 2006.[1] He was the Registrar of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.[1] In January, he sent a letter to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police requesting extra security after bombs were recovered from premises of the Bangladesh Supreme Court and Chapainawabganj District court.[2] He was the director of the Judicial Strengthening Project sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme.[1]

Zaman was appointed the District Judge of Dhaka District on 5 February 2015.[1]

Zaman indicted Sohel Rana and 40 others in the collapse of Rana Plaza.[3] In November 2016, Zaman sentenced four police officers from the Government Railway Police Station to 10 years imprisonment for robbing a man near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.[4]

Zaman was appointed an additional judge of the High Court Division on 31 May 2018.[1] In July, Zaman and Justice Obaidul Hassan rejected the bail application Mahabubul Haque Chisty, former audit chief of the Farmers Bank.[5]

In February 2019, Zaman and Justice Obaidul Hassan denied bail to Tufan Sarker, Sramik League convener of Bogura District, in a rape and torture case.[6] Zaman and Justice Obaidul Hassan fined Md Feroz Alam, a former Feni District Court Judge, for contempt of court for failure to provide protocol to High Court Justice Syed Amirul Islam.[7] In March, Zaman and Justice Mamnoon Rahman withdrew the bail to former Awami League leader Ruhul Amin for ordering a rape for withholding information in bail appeal.[8] Zaman and Justice Obaidul Hassan rejected the bail application of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in July.[9]

Zaman was appointed to the Search Committee, 2022 to recommend commissioners for the Bangladesh Election Commission.[10] In July, Zaman and Justice K. M. Zahid Sarwar Kazal granted bail to Mohammad Shahed, Chairman of Regent Hospital, in a loan default case from Farmers Bank.[11] Zaman and Justice Fahmida Quader granted bail to two former trustee board members of North South University, M. A. Kashem and Rehana Rahman, in a 3.04 billion BDT money laundering case in November.[12]

Zaman and Justice Fahmida Quader stayed a Digital Security Act case against singer Rita Dewan for "derogatory" comments about religion in January 2023.[13] Zaman and Justice Shahed Nuruddin denied bail to former Deputy Inspector General Md Mizanur Rahman.[14][15]