The Supreme Court (SC) has formed a total of 18 benches for conducting regular (physical) court activities from Wednesday while strictly ensuring compliance with health safety guidelines issued by the government in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Supreme Court issued two separate circulars regarding the fresh formation of 18 regular and 35 virtual benches High Court benches on Monday.
The virtual benches are of -- Justice Tariq ul Hakim and Justice S M Kuddus Zaman; Justice Muhammad Abdul Hafiz and Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam; Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Justice Md. Shohrowardi; Justice Md Miftah Uddin Choudhury; Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Mohammad Ali; Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque; Justice Md Emdadul Haque and Justice Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury; Justice Md Rais Uddin and Justice Sashanka Shekhar Sarkar; Justice Md Emdadul Haque Azad; Justice Syed Md Ziaul Karim and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das; Justice Md Rezaul Haque and Justice Md Atoar Rahman; Justice Mamnoon Rahman and Justice Khizir Hayat; Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice SM Maniruzzaman; Justice Soumendra Sarker; Justice Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice SM Mozibur Rahman; Justice Naima Haider and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil; Justice Md Rezaul Hasan; Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice Shahed Nuruddin; Justice ANM Bashir Ullah; Justice Abdur Rob and Justice Md Salim; Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice KM Hafizul Alam; Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Md Badruzzaman; Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore and Justice Mohammad Ullah; Justice Farid Ahmed and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir; Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Ahmed Sohel; Justice KM Kamrul Kader; Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Mohi Uddin Shamim; Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah; Justice AKM Shahidul Huq; Justice Shahidul Karim and Justice Md Akhtaruzzaman; Justice Jahangir Hossain; Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman and Justice Md Zakir Hossain; Justice Mahmudul Hoque; Justice Kashefa Hussain and Justice Md Salim.
Meanwhile, the 18 regular benches are of -- Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo; Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan; Justice Sheikh Abdul Awal; Justice SM Emdadul Hoque and Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty; Justice AKM Abdul Hakim and Justice Fatema Najib; Justice Borhanuddin and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir; Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice AKM Zahirul Hoque; Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman; Justice Krishna Debnath and Justice ASM Abdul Mobin; Justice Md Zakir Hossain and Justice KM Zahid Sarwar; Justice Md Habibul Gani and Justice Md Riaz Uddin Khan; Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman; Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Md Khairul Alam; Justice Md Ruhul Quddus and Justice Kazi Ebadoth Hossain; Justice Md Khasruzzaman and Justice Md Mahmud Hassan Talukder; Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar; Justice Zafar Ahmed and Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury.
Courts across Bangladesh have remained closed since March 26, when the government declared general holidays in a bid to curb Covid-19 infection.
However, all legal proceedings later resumed on a limited scale through virtual hearings.
On May 10, the chief justice issued directives and a user manual in line with the ordinance issued by President Md Abdul Hamid on May 9, allowing regular court proceedings to be conducted virtually during the Covid-19 lockdown in Bangladesh.
According to the Supreme Court administration, subordinate courts across Bangladesh have virtually granted bail to 67,229 people since May 11.
The courts have disposed of 136,399 bail petitions in the same period.
The subordinate courts also disposed of 4,310 petitions for bail on surrender, granted bail to 11,796 people, and sent 938 accused to prison between July 19-23.