Writing apex court verdicts in Bangla a difficult task: CJ
STAFF REPORTER
Chief Justice Surendra Kumkar Sinha yesterday said it is very difficult for the apex court judges to write all verdicts in Bangla.
The apex court judges often have to write around 100 verdicts a day. If they have to write all of these verdicts in Bangla, it would be very difficult for the judges. Writing verdicts in Bangla is a complex issue in many cases as many laws and references were often in English, said Chief Justice SK Sinha while talking to journalists at the Central Shaheed Minar after paying respect to language martyrs.
The chief justice also said that many judges are now pronouncing verdicts in Bangla although many laws as well local and foreign references are in English.
The chief justice said that normal judicial work is often delayed due to the shortage of manpower and judges. The backlog of cases continues to pile up due to the shortage of judges, he added.
In response to a query, he said, At first we have to address the shortage of manpower. Then the writing of verdicts in
Bangla might be considered.
The Bangladesh Supreme Court (High Court Division) Rules of 1973 stipulated that any petition with the top court would have to be in English.
It was later amended to either in English or Bengali, but most of the apex courts documents are still done in English.
The High Court issued several orders over using Bangla as the official language in state and administrative matters as well as on license plates for vehicles, signboards and television commercials.
Former chief justices Muhammad Habibur Rahman and ABM Khairul Haque as well as some High Court judges wrote some verdicts in Bangla.
A 150-year old verdict, kept at the Supreme Court Museum, is written in Bangla on a paper with the top courts logo in Persian.
Earlier, in a report, the Law Commission recommended that government use Bangla in every activity of the judiciary to ensure its easy access for all.
In its report, the commission alleged that the Criminal Procedure of Code (CrPC) and Civil Code were mainly responsible for creating obstacles in the use of Bangla in the daily activities of the judiciary.
Section 137(1) of the Civil Code says that the language which, on the commencement of this Code, is the language of any court subordinate to the High Court Division, shall continue to be the language of such subordinate court, until the government directs otherwise.
Section 137(2) of the Civil Code says that the government may declare what the language of any such court shall be, and in what characters
the applications and proceedings in such court shall be written.
On the other hand, Section 558 of the Criminal Penal Code (CrPC) states that the government may determine whatfor the purposes of this codeshall be deemed to be the language of each court within the territories administered by it.
Under these circumstances, the government could make two announcements under Section 558 of the CrPC, 1898, and Section 137(2) of the CCP, 1908, to start the use of Bangla in the judiciary, the Law Commission report stated.
