Staff Correspondent

In a historic milestone for the country's land registration system, a female District and Sessions Judge has been directly appointed as the Inspector General of Registration (IGR) for the first time. Shamima Afroz, who previously served as a judge at the Dhaka Divisional Special Judge's Court, officially assumed her new responsibilities on Thursday (June 25).

The government issued her appointment order to the apex administrative post of the Directorate of Registration on June 21. While Judge Umme Kulsum had previously discharged the duties of the IGR as an additional responsibility, this marks the first instance of a female District and Sessions Judge receiving a direct appointment to this prestigious position.

Shamima Afroz began her distinguished professional career in 1996 as a Research Officer at the Bangladesh Bar Council, during which she worked closely with the eminent jurist Barrister M. Amir-Ul-Islam.

She subsequently cleared the 18th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination and joined the judicial service on June 24, 1998. Over her extensive career, she has served with distinction as a District Judge in the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunals across Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Narsingdi, Brahmanbaria, and Moulvibazar.

Born in Noakhali on May 25, 1972, to the late Abdul Khalek and Mansura Begum, Shamima Afroz spent a portion of her childhood in the former Soviet Union due to her father's professional postings, receiving her primary education at the Moscow Embassy School.

Her appointment to the top post of the registration department is being widely recognized as a significant milestone in the advancement of women's leadership within Bangladesh's judiciary and public administration.