Five judges, 17,500 cases

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is once again facing a shortage of judges, which means more time to dispose of cases, and in turn, a longer wait for justice.

One of its judges has died of Covid-19, another has gone into retirement, and a third judge has been on a long leave, which will last till his retirement.

At present, only five judges of the court, including Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, are dealing with more than 17,500 pending cases.

On July 9, 2009, then Bangladesh president raised the number of judges at the apex court from seven to 11, prior to disposing of some important cases, including those centring the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the fifth amendment to the constitution.

The situation might get even worse next year if new judges are not appointed soon. Because two judges -- Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and senior-most Justice Md Nuruzzaman -- will retire on September 26 and July 1, respectively, next year.

The High Court Division of the SC has also been facing a similar shortage of judges, even though 11 additional judges were appointed for it on July 31 this year, raising the number to 95.

The situation might get even worse next year if new judges are not appointed soon. Because two judges -- Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and senior-most Justice Md Nuruzzaman -- will retire on September 26 and July 1, respectively, next year.

To put the situation into perspective, more than 5.18 lakh cases are pending with the HC, and in June 2012, the number of judges was 101.

Among the 95 HC judges, three have been excluded from judicial functions for more than three years, as an inquiry centring them is pending. Three other judges are running the International Crimes Tribunal to deal with 1971 war-crimes related cases.

The crisis of judges at the Appellate and HC divisions has caused a huge backlog of cases, which has ultimately led to people being deprived of justice.

However, Law Minister Anisul Huq told The Daily Star that new judges will be appointed for the Appellate Division at a convenient time.

"Appointing judges is a continuous process. When the number of judges goes down, new ones are appointed. I know that the number of Appellate Division judges has decreased. New ones will be appointed for the apex court," he said.

Asked about the possibility of appointing more HC judges, the minister said, "The honourable president will decide that."

Contacted, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Md Momtaz Uddin Fakir told this correspondent that the chief justice could not form more than one full bench of the Appellate Division, as only five judges are performing judicial functions.

Three judges are needed to form a full bench.

"If two or three full benches are constituted for the division, more cases will be disposed of, and more people will get justice," he said.

The SCBA president said he will request the government to take steps for appointing more judges for the apex court soon.

Contacted, senior SC lawyer and editor of Dhaka Law Reports Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that the case disposal rate of the Appellate Division has gone down due to the shortage.

The gazette notification that was issued in July 2009 to raise the number of Appellate Division judges to 11 is still effective. So, there is scope to appoint four or five new judges, he said.

In 1974, the Appellate Division had five judges and the HC 12. Pending cases in the Appellate and HC divisions at that time were 4,094 and 28,186, respectively.

"There is one judge for every 10,000 people in the US and 67,000 people in India. But in Bangladesh, we have one for more than 1 lakh people," said ABM Khairul Haque, former chief justice and former chairperson of Law Commission, a few years back.

The last time the Appellate Division got four new judges was on January 9 this year, as four High Court judges were elevated to the division, raising the number to eight.

They are Justice Borhan Uddin, Justice M Enayetur Rahim, Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice Krishna Debnath.

Among them, Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan died of Covid-19 on February 4, and Justice Krishna Debnath retired on October 10.

Justice Muhammad Imman Ali, the senior-most judge of the Appellate Division, went on a leave on December 30 last year, when Justice Hasan Foez Siddique was appointed as the 23rd chief justice of Bangladesh, according to SC sources.