Land and Civil Aviation Adviser AF Hassan Ariff passed away while undergoing treatment at Labaid Specialized Hospital in Dhaka on Friday. He was 83.

He breathed his last around 3:30 pm at the hospital due to massive cardiac arrest, family sources told reporters.

“My father was feeling sick and suddenly collapsed on the floor this afternoon. At once, we took him to Labaid Hospital where doctors declared him dead,” Ariff’s son Moaz Arif said.

Following an unceremonious step-down of the Awami League government on 5 August, Ariff took oath as an adviser of the interim government led by Prof Muhammad Yunus on 8 August.

He was initially appointed as an advisor to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives, as well as the Ministry of Land.

Later, he was assigned responsibilities for the Ministry of Land and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.

Born in Calcutta in 1941, Ariff was enrolled as an advocate of the Calcutta High Court, West Bengal, India, in 1967. He moved to Dhaka in 1970 and became a lawyer at the High Court.

He practised in the Calcutta High Court as an associate of Senior Advocate late Somen Bose, an eminent constitutional lawyer.

Late Justice Bhagabati Prosad Banerjee, an eminent author of “Writ Remedies” was a senior colleague of the same chamber.

He was a senior advocate of the Supreme Court and Attorney General of Bangladesh from 2001 to 2005, with a legal career spanning since 1970.

He also served as the legal adviser to the caretaker government from 2008 to January 2009.

AF Hassan Ariff also served as the legal adviser in various organisations, including the Road and Highways Department, Chittagong Port Authority, Mongla Port Authority, Security and Exchange Commission, Bangladesh, Chattogram Development Authority, Chittagong Stock Exchange, University Grant Commission and Grameen Phone Bangladesh. He was the serving legal adviser of the Dhakeshwari National Temple Complex.