Over 13 lakh civil suits pending

Fazle Rabbi from Chittagong had started legal fight in 1992 to secure his ancestral land in Lohagora area of Chittagong. But the dispute is yet to be resolved due to legal complexities. "I started the legal fight in 1992 to make a correct record regarding our ancestral land. I got a decree from the lower court the same year. But the opposite party—Elias Khan and 43 others—filed an appeal with the additional court in Chittagong and got a decree in their favour in 2002," he said. "We appealed to the HC against the lower court’s order. It granted our appeal and stayed the lower court’s verdict. Now, the case is pending before the HC for final disposal,” he told this correspondent.

At least 1,314,419 civil cases have remained pending with courts, resulting in immense suffering for litigants. Some of these cases are as much as 30 years old. Such delays could be attributed to the absence of lawyers in court, the seeking of time by petitioners or defendants, and a huge backlog of pending cases, say court sources.

In total, 10,040 cases are pending before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC), 91,561 before the High Court (HC), and 1,212,818 in lower courts, according to the sources.

Like Fazle Rabbi, Mofizuddin Ahmed, a resident of Mymensingh, filed an appeal with the HC in 1981 against a lower court order against him in a land dispute. But the appeal is yet to be disposed of by the HC because the parties have often failed to appear for hearings. After the filing of the appeal, the HC on July 5, 1989, directed the petitioner’s lawyer to prepare eight copies of the case documents. As per the HC directive, the petitioner’s lawyer submitted them to the court on September 13, 1989. Later, on January 3, 1990, neither the counsel of the respondents nor Syed Sarkar and others, the respondents in the case, appeared before the HC.

Although the HC took initiatives to hold hearings in the case, they fell through due to the absence of lawyers.

Finally, the HC, on March 29, 2004, directed the authorities concerned to issue a note against the respondents’ lawyer and provide two copies of the case paper book so that the litigation could be disposed of in accordance with the law.

Neither the petitioner nor the respondents had moved before the HC for the disposal of the case since 2004, reveal the case documents.

In another case, the Sadaran Bima Corporation filed a case in 1989, claiming Tk. 195,379 from the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) for damage caused to goods carried by a ship of the BIWTC.

Sahid, the then subordinate judge of commercial court No. 2, Dhaka, on July 31, 1989 and August 30 that year gave a decree in favour of Sadaran Bima Corporation.

But the BIWTC appealed against the lower court’s order in the HC. However, when the case was taken up, no one appeared before the HC on successive hearing dates.  Finally, the HC bench, comprising Justice AB Mahmudul Huq and Justice Rezaul Haque, on April 13, 2004, dismissed the appeal.

The BIWTC filed an application for the revival of the case in 2014. The HC in 2015 recalled its order and issued a rule over the money suit. The case is now pending before the HC for final disposal, case documents show.

Civil and company law expert advocate Ahsanul Karim told The Independent that there are three main reasons for delays in civil suits.

First, one of the parties may not be interested in a quick disposal of the case. Moreover, lawyers, who get their fees on hearing days, may want cases to drag on.

Second, a party seeking a stay may not show any interest in settling a case once such an order is obtained. Third, the courts often do not get the time to hold hearings because of a huge backlog of unresolved litigation. Karim also said the Chief Justice had taken a maiden initiative to clear the backlog of long-pending cases. A large number of such cases have already been disposed of because of the move, he added.

In response to a query, Karim said that only four HC Division benches are now disposing of civil cases.

He felt the Chief Justice should increase the number of HC benches so that the legal process could be hastened.

Echoing the same view, company law expert senior lawyer Advocate Shah Monjurul Hoque told this correspondent the shortage of judges and lack of skilled judges is also responsible for increasing the backlog of civil cases in the High Court Division.

He also said, “Unwillingness of lawyers, petitioners and respondents are also responsible for such increasing of civil cases as in sometimes they are not interested to dispose of their cases quickly.”

There is no specific and mandatory timeframes for the courts to dispose of civil related cases. Taking this opportunity the petitioners and respondents carry out the trial proceedings of the cases for indefinite periods, he noted.

The senior lawyer also said the parties of civil cases, which were filed before the assistant or senior assistant judges’ court, should not allow taking their matter before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court as they got more facilities than that most important case, which were filed before the joint district courts.

Explaining the matter, the senior lawyer said, “The less important parties, who move before the assistant judges’ courts, used to get more legal facilities as they can move assistant judge court, then district judge court, then High Court and then Appellate Division. But, the most important parties, who move before the joint district courts, used to get less legal facilities in compare with the less important cases as they could not move before the district judge. Hence, the less important parties should not allow before the Appellate Division and it should be resolved by the High Court Division finally,” he noted.

Over 13 lakh civil suits pending

Fazle Rabbi from Chittagong had started legal fight in 1992 to secure his ancestral land in Lohagora area of Chittagong. But the dispute is yet to be resolved due to legal complexities. I started the legal fight in 1992 to make a correct record regarding our ancestral land. I got a decree from the lower court the same year. But the opposite partyElias Khan and 43 othersfiled an appeal with the additional court in Chittagong and got a decree in their favour in 2002, he said. We appealed to the HC against the lower courts order. It granted our appeal and stayed the lower courts verdict. Now, the case is pending before the HC for final disposal, he told this correspondent. At least 1,314,419 civil cases have remained pending with courts, resulting in immense suffering for litigants. Some of these cases are as much as 30 years old. Such delays could be attributed to the absence of lawyers in court, the seeking of time by petitioners or defendants, and a huge backlog of pending cases, say court sources. In total, 10,040 cases are pending before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC), 91,561 before the High Court (HC), and 1,212,818 in lower courts, according to the sources. Like Fazle Rabbi, Mofizuddin Ahmed, a resident of Mymensingh, filed an appeal with the HC in 1981 against a lower court order against him in a land dispute. But the appeal is yet to be disposed of by the HC because the parties have often failed to appear for hearings. After the filing of the appeal, the HC on July 5, 1989, directed the petitioners lawyer to prepare eight copies of the case documents. As per the HC directive, the petitioners lawyer submitted them to the court on September 13, 1989. Later, on January 3, 1990, neither the counsel of the respondents nor Syed Sarkar and others, the respondents in the case, appeared before the HC. Although the HC took initiatives to hold hearings in the case, they fell through due to the absence of lawyers. Finally, the HC, on March 29, 2004, directed the authorities concerned to issue a note against the respondents lawyer and provide two copies of the case paper book so that the litigation could be disposed of in accordance with the law. Neither the petitioner nor the respondents had moved before the HC for the disposal of the case since 2004, reveal the case documents. In another case, the Sadaran Bima Corporation filed a case in 1989, claiming Tk. 195,379 from the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) for damage caused to goods carried by a ship of the BIWTC. Sahid, the then subordinate judge of commercial court No. 2, Dhaka, on July 31, 1989 and August 30 that year gave a decree in favour of Sadaran Bima Corporation. But the BIWTC appealed against the lower courts order in the HC. However, when the case was taken up, no one appeared before the HC on successive hearing dates. Finally, the HC bench, comprising Justice AB Mahmudul Huq and Justice Rezaul Haque, on April 13, 2004, dismissed the appeal. The BIWTC filed an application for the revival of the case in 2014. The HC in 2015 recalled its order and issued a rule over the money suit. The case is now pending before the HC for final disposal, case documents show. Civil and company law expert advocate Ahsanul Karim told The Independent that there are three main reasons for delays in civil suits. First, one of the parties may not be interested in a quick disposal of the case. Moreover, lawyers, who get their fees on hearing days, may want cases to drag on. Second, a party seeking a stay may not show any interest in settling a case once such an order is obtained. Third, the courts often do not get the time to hold hearings because of a huge backlog of unresolved litigation. Karim also said the Chief Justice had taken a maiden initiative to clear the backlog of long-pending cases. A large number of such cases have already been disposed of because of the move, he added. In response to a query, Karim said that only four HC Division benches are now disposing of civil cases. He felt the Chief Justice should increase the number of HC benches so that the legal process could be hastened. Echoing the same view, company law expert senior lawyer Advocate Shah Monjurul Hoque told this correspondent the shortage of judges and lack of skilled judges is also responsible for increasing the backlog of civil cases in the High Court Division. He also said, Unwillingness of lawyers, petitioners and respondents are also responsible for such increasing of civil cases as in sometimes they are not interested to dispose of their cases quickly. There is no specific and mandatory timeframes for the courts to dispose of civil related cases. Taking this opportunity the petitioners and respondents carry out the trial proceedings of the cases for indefinite periods, he noted. The senior lawyer also said the parties of civil cases, which were filed before the assistant or senior assistant judges court, should not allow taking their matter before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court as they got more facilities than that most important case, which were filed before the joint district courts. Explaining the matter, the senior lawyer said, The less important parties, who move before the assistant judges courts, used to get more legal facilities as they can move assistant judge court, then district judge court, then High Court and then Appellate Division. But, the most important parties, who move before the joint district courts, used to get less legal facilities in compare with the less important cases as they could not move before the district judge. Hence, the less important parties should not allow before the Appellate Division and it should be resolved by the High Court Division finally, he noted.