The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Mahbubey Alam has been named new attorney general hours after Salahuddin Ahmed resigned the top legal post, the law minister said last night.

Shafiq Ahmed told bdnews24.com by telephone he had signed the papers for the appointment.

"I have signed the files for the appointment of Mahabubey Alam. This is almost final. The appointment will be final after the president signs the papers following the prime minister's approval," he said.

He was the additional attorney general from Nov. 15, 1998 to Oct.4, 2001. He enrolled as a senior Supreme Court lawyer in 1998.

Alam was president of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 2005-2006 and was its general secretary for the 1993-94 term. He was elected to the Bangladesh Bar Council in 2004.

He became a lawyer of the Appellate Division in 1980 after graduation in law from City Law college in 1972 and took law as a profession in the next year.

Alam started practising in the High court in 1975 after doing bachelor's with honours in political science and master's in public administration from the University of Dhaka.

Born in Munshiganj district, he also secured an advanced degree in constitutional law from New Delhi, India

Earlier in the afternoon, Salahuddin resigned his position .

"I have submitted my resignation in line with the tradition that the attorney general resigns after a new government takes over," Salahuddin told bdnews24.com after handing a letter to the law ministry Monday afternoon.

"I submitted the letter to the law minister addressed to the president," said Salahuddin.

The law minister confirmed he had received the letter.

"The new attorney general will be appointed in a day or two," the minister had said in the afternoon.

Salahuddin was appointed attorney general on July 13 last year by the caretaker government. Earlier, he served as additional attorney general since Feb. 13, 2007.

He joined the Appellate Division as a lawyer in 2002 after becoming a High Court lawyer in 1982.

Salahuddin, who once taught economics at Dhaka University, has been in law profession since 1980 after he had passed LLB from Dhaka University in 1978.