HC stays transfer order of civil cases

The High Court today directed authorities concerned not to take any steps for transferring pending civil cases from the High Court to the lower courts for next three months.

The court also issued a rule upon the authorities to explain in four weeks as to why the relevant provision of Civil Court (Amendment) Act 2016 that permitted the authorities to transfer civil cases should not be declared illegal.

Law secretary, registrar general of the Supreme Court and the High Court registrar have been made respondent to the rule.

The bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir came up with the rule following a writ petition filed by three Supreme Court lawyers.

Saidul Alam Khan, Abdullah Al Sayeed and Shubhra Deb Ratul submitted the petition challenging the legality of Section 4 (3) of the civil court act which permitted the lower court judges to hear and dispose of the civil cases involving Tk 2 lakh to 5 crore.

The section also allowed the authorities to transfer such type of cases from the High Court to the lower courts for their disposal, said in the petition.

Petitioners said the litigants will suffer due to the section of the Civil Court Act as they have to move the cases further at the lower court and therefore create a backlog of cases.