| Honorific-Prefix: | The Honourable Chief Justice |
| Syed Refaat Ahmed | |
| Native Name: | সৈয়দ রেফাত আহমেদ |
| Native Name Lang: | bn |
| Office: | 25th Chief Justice of Bangladesh |
| Term Start: | 10 August 2024 |
| Birth Date: | 28 December 1958 |
| Nationality: | Bangladeshi |
| Profession: | Judge |
| Predecessor: | Obaidul Hassan |
| Appointer: | Mohammed Shahabuddin |
| Father: | Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed |
| Mother: | Sufia Ahmed |
Syed Refaat Ahmed is a Bangladeshi lawyer and jurist who is the current and 25th chief justice of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.[1] Before that he was promoted to Appellate Division and President of Bangladesh appointed him as the Chief Justice.[2] Previously he worked at the High Court Division of the Supreme Court.[3]
Ahmed was born on 28 December 1958.[4] His father, Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed, was a Attorney General of Bangladesh.[5] His mother, Sufia Ahmed, was a National Professor of Bangladesh and a professor of Islamic History and Culture at the University of Dhaka.[6]
Ahmed did his bachelor of law degree at the University of Dhaka. He completed a bachelor of arts in jurisprudence and masters at the Wadham College of Oxford University in 1983.[7] He completed a Masters and PhD at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University.[8]
In 1984, Ahmed became a lawyer of the District Courts. He became a lawyer of the High Court Division in 1986. He worked at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Hong Kong and Washington, D.C..
Ahmed became a lawyer of the Appellate Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court 2002 .
Ahmed was appointed an additional justice of the Bangladesh High Court on 27 April 2003. In 2003, AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik accused traffic police officers of contempt of court for not saluting his car. The Inspector General of Police of Bangladesh Police, Shahudul Haque, issued a rejoinder that said traffic police are under no obligations to salute anyone and they could do so if it was safe. Bangladesh High Court bench of Justice M A Matin and Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed issued a contempt of court charge against Haque which automatically removed him from the post of Inspector General according to the law. The government of Bangladesh secured a presidential pardon that protected Haque's job.[9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
Ahmed was made a permanent Judge on the High Court Division on 27 April 2005.
In 2009, Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed heard a petition challenging the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord filed by a Bengali settler in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Bangladesh Jammat e Islami lawyer.[14]
In October 2017, Justice Md. Salim and Ahmed ordered the government to complete the construction of the Central Effluent Treatment Plant at the Savar tannery estate within four weeks.[15] Justice Md. Salim and Ahmed issued a two-month injunction on member of parliament Mahbubur Rahman Talukder from holding the post of chairman of 11 educational institutions in Patuakhali District.[16]
In April 2018, Justice Md. Salim and Ahmed suspended the term extension of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh after Smart Jeans filed an appeal after its contract was suspended by the Accord.[17] In December 2018, Ahmed was part of a divided bench on the question of Khaleda Zia participating in the general election. He had asked the Election Commission to accept the nomination of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia while his fellow judge on the bench, Justice Iqbal Kabir, disagreed and blocked the participation of Khaleda Zia.[18]
On 28 July 2019, High Court bench led by him banned the marketing of pasteurized milk by 14 companies.[19] Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha on 17 December 2004 allocated a plot in the third phase of Uttara Model Town (sector 15) to Md. Miftah Uddin Choudhury.[20] Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha cancelled the allocation which was halted by a High Court bench of Justice Md. Iqbal Kabir and Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, which ordered Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha to accept Choudhury's payments in August 2019. In November 2019, Justice Md. Salim and Ahmed declared the import of MT Producer for the shipbreaking industry due to the ship being contaminated with radioactive material.[21] He was appointed as the chief justice of the people's republic of Bangladesh by the President of Bangladesh in 10th August 2024.[22] [23] On August 11, 2024, he was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Bangladesh[24] [25] after his nomination was proposed by student leaders of the Non-cooperation movement (2024).[26]