CJ: Caretaker govt scrapped to ensure judiciary’s independence

The provision of caretaker government was scrapped to keep the judicial system independent, said Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday. He made the remark while speaking at the two-day National Judicial Conference 2016 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital, while inaugurating the new Judicial Portal. He further said the reason behind the huge case backlog at courts, which seems impossible to reduce, is the insufficient number of judges. He said to serve justice for every million people, there are only 10 judges in Bangladesh, which is fewer than most countries in the world. “There are 1,268 judges to go through around 2.7 million cases pending with the lower courts, an impossible task as the number of cases increases every day. “There are 387 posts of judges, which are lying vacant. If the number of judges is doubled, the gap will decrease,” he added. The conference was organised by the Supreme Court in association with the UK-based Department for International Development and Maxwell Stamp PLC. The Judicial Portal, found at www.judiciary.org.bd, is an online service to ensure that citizens have access to all information regarding judicial services, as well as a database for judicial officers. This is the second time a judicial conference has been held for the judges of all tiers of the judiciary. In an effort to reduce the backlog, the chief justice said he had told judges and magistrates to dismiss cases with absentee witnesses. In the case of a no-show, a summon will be issued. If the witness still fails to appear on the shifted date, the court will issue a non-bailable warrant. If the witness still does not appear before the court third time of asking, the case will be dropped, said SK Sinha. Regarding the government shortcomings on the issue, the chief justice said new laws and tribunals had been introduced, but there were no improvements in the infrastructure, record rooms or sitting arrangements though all these were necessary. He also said: “The independence of the judiciary needs to be preserved.”