Justice Zinat Ara became the second female Appellate Division judge in the history of Bangladesh Supreme Court on Tuesday, when she was sworn in by the chief justice.
The daughter of late HMR Siddiqui and late Begum Ayesha Siddiqui, Justice Ara was born on Mar 15, 1953.
After obtaining her B.Sc and LL.B degrees, she joined the judicial service in 1978 as a munsif (now assistant judge) and was promoted as a district and sessions judge in 1995.
On Apr 27, 2003, the 65-year-old was elevated as additional judge of the High Court division and was appointed judge of the same division two years later.
“The judiciary is facing the backlog in cases and together with my colleagues, I will try sincerely to resolve the crisis,” she said after the oath-taking ceremony at the Supreme Court judges’ lounge.
Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, who retired in July this year, was the first appeals judge of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.
She, too, joined the judicial service as an assistant judge in the mid-1970s and became a district judge in 1990.
In 2000, she was appointed as an additional judge of the High Court and elevated to a judge in 2002.