Former Chief Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim passed away yesterday morning at the age of 81.

He breathed his last while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dhaka.

Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Law Adviser Asif Nazrul expressed shock at the demise of Fazlul and conveyed their sympathy to his bereaved family members.

The chief justice suspended the judicial functions of both the Appellate and High Court divisions of the Supreme Court for today in honour of Justice Fazlul.

Justice Fazlul obtained his LLB degree from the University of Dhaka in 1964 and completed Bar-at-law in 1969.

He began his legal career by enrolling as an advocate of the district court in Chattogram in 1965. He was subsequently enrolled at the High Court in Dhaka in 1970 and at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in 1979.

He was elevated to the position of a judge of the High Court Division on November 1, 1992, and later as a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on May 15, 2001.

He served as the 18th chief justice from February 8, 2010 to September 29, 2010.

Justice Karim also held key roles in the legal fraternity, serving as the secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 1982 and becoming a member of the Bangladesh Bar Council in 1992.