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Published : 16 Apr 2026, 02:06 PM
The Bangladesh Bar Council has temporarily suspended the lawyer’s licence for Masdar Hossain, a former district judge and Supreme Court advocate, after “initial evidence was found” regarding allegations he had embezzled Tk 12.5 million from a client.
It also issued a notice calling for Masdar to explain within 15 days why his licence should not be permanently revoked.
The decision was taken “unanimously” at an emergency meeting of the Bangladesh Bar Council, the body that regulates lawyers, according to a press release on Wednesday.
A report was recently published in a national daily over allegations that Masdar, known for his role in the Secretary, Ministry of Finance v Masdar Hossain case, had embezzled Tk 12.5 million from a client.
The press release said, “A report published in the daily Kalbela, which alleged that lawyer Masdar Hossain had embezzled Tk 12.5 million from his client, came to the attention of the Bar Council. The published article mentioned that lawyer Masdar Hossain had already admitted to the embezzlement.”
The Bar Council held an emergency meeting after seriously considering the “primary truthfulness and question of professional ethics” over the “professional misconduct and moral lapse”.
“The meeting unanimously decided to temporarily suspend Masdar Hossain’s licence as there is primary evidence and grounds for the allegation.”
The notice said that Masdar’s law licence will be temporarily suspended until the matter is finally resolved.
Masdar denied the allegations in a written statement, saying: "I firmly believe that a group has deliberately published misleading and exaggerated news to defame me."
Retired senior district and sessions judge Masdar Hossain was the secretary general of the BCS Judicial Association in 1995. He and his fellow judges filed a case regarding the separation of the judiciary from the executive, which came to be known as the “Masdar Hossain case”.
After retiring from the judiciary, Masdar returned to the practice of law. He served as a member of the Judicial Reform Commission formed during the interim government.
