SC without adequate number of judges for 4 months

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The Appellate and High Court (HC) divisions of Supreme Court (SC) have been without adequate judges as two judge’s posts at Appellate Division have remained vacant since July 2 and no new judge was appointed to the HC in more than four years.

Sources said at least seven HC Division judges would retire next year while five Appellate Division judges would retire by 2010 with the chief justice retiring next year.

The shortage has resulted in increasing number of cases pending with both the divisions, causing suffering to litigants.

At present, the Appellate Division has five judges against seven posts following retirement of two judges.

The HC, on the other hand, now has 61 judges. The number had risen to 72 after 19 additional judges were appointed to the HC on August 23, 2004, but 11 of them have since either retired or been promoted to the Appellate Division.

Sources said the government is not appointing judges as appeals against HC judgments in two cases regarding recruitment of judges are pending with the apex court. The HC in its judgment directed the government to reappoint 10 HC judges and declared illegal a part of the Supreme Judicial Commission Ordinance 2008 promulgated for appointing judges.

The attorney general’s office, however, observes that the government could still appoint judges as per the chief justice’s recommendations.

A deputy attorney general said, “The government earlier appointed judges to the High Court although a case regarding recruitment of judges was pending with the Supreme Court.

“If new judges are not appointed soon, the crisis with pending cases will be very serious and the government will have to face it,” he said, stressing that judges should be immediately appointed to the two divisions for quick disposal of the pending cases.

Attorney General (AG) Salauddin Ahmed also said, “The government is the authority to appoint judges to the apex court. It can appoint judges any time.” He expressed hope that the vacant posts of judges in the Appellate and HC divisions would be filled soon.

Legal experts meanwhile stressed the need for appointing competent, honest and courageous judges to the two divisions.

Senior jurist and former Supreme Court Bar Association president barrister M Amir-Ul Islam said only increasing the umber of judges at the Appellate and HC divisions would not do the judiciary any good if the judges are not competent and honest.

“If incompetent judges are appointed, the number of pending cases would still increase causing suffering to litigants,” he said.

Renowned lawyer Dr Shahdeen Malik said, “The present government–being not a political one–is expected to appoint competent and impartial judges soon. I hope that judges will not be appointed on political consideration.”

Among the Appellate Division judges, Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin will retire on December 23, 2009, Justice Md Joynul Abedin on January 1, 2010, Justice Md Tafazzal Islam on February 8, 2010, Justice Md Abdul Matin on February 26, 2010, and Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim on September 30, 2010.

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