171 judges sans fixed courtrooms

At least 171 trial court judges have been discharging their duties without specific courtrooms.
The judges have been conducting their judicial functioning in their colleagues’ courtrooms. Owing to the dearth of courtrooms, the judges cannot work full-time on judicial activities, sources said.
Though the Chief Justice has requested the district magistrates (administration) to allocate some rooms to judicial magistrates, most of the district magistrates (admin) are yet to provide these to the judicial magistrates. As a result, the judges cannot work full-time and, as a result, pending cases keep on piling up, sources said.
At a recent felicitation programme, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha urged the district magistrates to provide those rooms that are not being used by them to judicial magistrates.
“If the district magistrates give us those rooms in which they conducted judicial activities before the separation of the judiciary from the executive, the judicial magistrates can conduct the judicial functioning again in those rooms,” the Chief Justice pointed out.
According to sources in the Supreme Court, among the 1,655 posts of the trial court judges, a total of 457 is lying vacant. A total of 1,094 judges is discharging their duties in the trial courts across the country. Among them, 171 judges have no courtroom (Ejlash) to conduct judicial activities, the sources added.
There is a shortage of courtrooms in as many as 47 districts of the country. A total of nine courtrooms is needed for each of Dhaka and Comilla districts while eight are needed for Jamalpur, seven for Pabna, six for each of Rajshahi, Narsingdi, Sherpur, Faridpur, Netrakona and Chandpur, five for each of Narayanganj, Kishoreganj, Shariatpur, Kurigram, Kustia, Bogra and Natore, four for each of Gopalganj, Jessore and Sunamganj, and three for each of Rangamati and Brahmanbaria.

Soon after the judiciary was separated from the executive, the government had taken up a project, named ‘Judicial Magistrate Court Building Project’, to construct magistrate court buildings in each of the 64 districts to ensure smooth functioning of judicial activities.
A total of Tk. 2,500 crore has been allocated for the project. The authorities have already started construction activities in 35 districts. However, the authorities could not start construction work in 30 districts as a result of land acquisition problems, sources disclosed.
At a recent programme organised by the Judicial Services Association, the Chief Justice, in a reference to law minister Anisul Huq, who was present at that programme, said more than 20 years would be required to complete the Judicial Magistrate Court Building Project, if several complexities, including the land acquisition problem, are not resolved immediately.
“We should be aware of the 27 lakh cases that are pending for disposal at the trial courts across the country,” the Chief Justice added.
According to sources, at least two to three judges are discharging their duties in a courtroom at different times of the day as they lack specific courtrooms. In some cases, a judge goes to his/her waiting room after delivering a verdict and another judge sits in that courtroom for conducting judicial functions, sources added.
The Supreme Court’s Senior Registrar General, Syed Aminul Islam, said the rooms of the district magistrates (admin), which were used by the magistrates before the judiciary was separated, remain unused till now. The district magistrates can provide those rooms to the judicial officers. If they do so, the shortage of courtrooms would be reduced, and pending cases could be disposed of quickly, he noted.
On November 1, 2007, the then caretaker government separated the judiciary from the executive in accordance with an apex court verdict. After the separation, the judicial officers have been using a total of 87 courtrooms in 26 districts. Some rooms are still lying vacant in other districts, but the district administrations are yet to provide those rooms to the judicial officers.

 

171 judges sans fixed courtrooms

At least 171 trial court judges have been discharging their duties without specific courtrooms. The judges have been conducting their judicial functioning in their colleagues courtrooms. Owing to the dearth of courtrooms, the judges cannot work full-time on judicial activities, sources said. Though the Chief Justice has requested the district magistrates (administration) to allocate some rooms to judicial magistrates, most of the district magistrates (admin) are yet to provide these to the judicial magistrates. As a result, the judges cannot work full-time and, as a result, pending cases keep on piling up, sources said. At a recent felicitation programme, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha urged the district magistrates to provide those rooms that are not being used by them to judicial magistrates. If the district magistrates give us those rooms in which they conducted judicial activities before the separation of the judiciary from the executive, the judicial magistrates can conduct the judicial functioning again in those rooms, the Chief Justice pointed out. According to sources in the Supreme Court, among the 1,655 posts of the trial court judges, a total of 457 is lying vacant. A total of 1,094 judges is discharging their duties in the trial courts across the country. Among them, 171 judges have no courtroom (Ejlash) to conduct judicial activities, the sources added. There is a shortage of courtrooms in as many as 47 districts of the country. A total of nine courtrooms is needed for each of Dhaka and Comilla districts while eight are needed for Jamalpur, seven for Pabna, six for each of Rajshahi, Narsingdi, Sherpur, Faridpur, Netrakona and Chandpur, five for each of Narayanganj, Kishoreganj, Shariatpur, Kurigram, Kustia, Bogra and Natore, four for each of Gopalganj, Jessore and Sunamganj, and three for each of Rangamati and Brahmanbaria. Soon after the judiciary was separated from the executive, the government had taken up a project, named Judicial Magistrate Court Building Project, to construct magistrate court buildings in each of the 64 districts to ensure smooth functioning of judicial activities. A total of Tk. 2,500 crore has been allocated for the project. The authorities have already started construction activities in 35 districts. However, the authorities could not start construction work in 30 districts as a result of land acquisition problems, sources disclosed. At a recent programme organised by the Judicial Services Association, the Chief Justice, in a reference to law minister Anisul Huq, who was present at that programme, said more than 20 years would be required to complete the Judicial Magistrate Court Building Project, if several complexities, including the land acquisition problem, are not resolved immediately. We should be aware of the 27 lakh cases that are pending for disposal at the trial courts across the country, the Chief Justice added. According to sources, at least two to three judges are discharging their duties in a courtroom at different times of the day as they lack specific courtrooms. In some cases, a judge goes to his/her waiting room after delivering a verdict and another judge sits in that courtroom for conducting judicial functions, sources added. The Supreme Courts Senior Registrar General, Syed Aminul Islam, said the rooms of the district magistrates (admin), which were used by the magistrates before the judiciary was separated, remain unused till now. The district magistrates can provide those rooms to the judicial officers. If they do so, the shortage of courtrooms would be reduced, and pending cases could be disposed of quickly, he noted. On November 1, 2007, the then caretaker government separated the judiciary from the executive in accordance with an apex court verdict. After the separation, the judicial officers have been using a total of 87 courtrooms in 26 districts. Some rooms are still lying vacant in other districts, but the district administrations are yet to provide those rooms to the judicial officers.