At the farewell event on Wednesday, the departing chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain stressed on formulation of a law for transparent and prompt appointment of High Court judges. He said, “Formulation of a law in line with the constitution is essential in the context of reality.” It would make the appointment of judges transparent and speedy and the confusion among people regarding the appointment of judges will be eradicated.
He also suggested doubling the number of judges to reduce the backlogs of pending cases. The chief justice will retire on 30 December. It was his last day in office on 15 December as the court will be closed for a two-week annual vacation.
The logjam of cases in lower and higher courts have been prevalent for a long time. Predecessors of Syed Mahmud Hossain also brought the problem to light. Thought the number of judges has increased a little, it is is still inadequate. There are infrastructure issue in many courts. In many districts, the construction of judicial magistracy building has not been finished yet. Multiple judges have to conduct hearings in one courtroom and therefore the proceedings are delayed.
Such a poor condition of judiciary after 50 years of independence is extremely disappointing. Allocation for the judiciary is very low while the government receives a significant amount of revenue from the sector. The government should take the chief justice’s suggestion into account and take immediate measures. Increasing the number of judges is not enough, the judges must be provided with infrastructure facilities, accommodation and required manpower. The chief justice was content with the government decision to formulate a law to appoint judges.
The question is when this initiative will get tangible results. In many cases, the executive enacts laws as per need. Again, despite the directives of the constitution, many laws are still pending. For instance, the Election Commission Act.
According to the information obtained from the lawyers of the Supreme Court, during the tenure of the present chief justice, there has been some positive work in the judiciary, including e-filing of company and admiralty cases. In addition, the virtual court has been quite active for the last two years due to corona. As a result, the suffering of the justice seeker has been reduced to some extent. The court is operating physically again as the corona infection has decreased. The outgoing chief justice may be commended for this.
Welcoming or bidding farewell to the chief justice by the Supreme Court Bar Association is a very old custom in the courtroom. But we noticed with deep concern that a section of lawyers, led by the secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association, were absent at the farewell reception of chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain last Wednesday.
Those are known as pro-BNP. The excuse made by the secretary at the press conference that they did not invite him in time is not acceptable in any way. Lawyers may differ in their political views and opinions, but it is not appropriate to bring this to the court.