The Appellate Division of Supreme Court asked the government yesterday to increase the retirement age of lower court judges as a good number of judges will go on retirement within a few months, which the court thinks will create a “vacuum” in the judicial system.
The court came up with the opinion during a hearing of Masder Hossain case, known as the judiciary separation case. The eight-member court (full court) headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain fixed the next date for the hearing on December 14.
During the hearing, Barrister Amir Ul Islam told the court that 48 senior district judges would go on retirement soon, and a vacuum may be created in the judiciary. It will also affect in the case disposal rate and the quality of judgement, he said.
Agreeing with Barrister Amir Ul Islam, the chief justice said: “It is true that if this number of judges go on retirement soon, it will create a problem. Especially to dispose civil cases, where will we find this many experienced judges?”
On June 2, 2009, the Judicial Service Commission recommended the government to increase the retirement age of lower court judges from 59 to 62 years.
The chief justice asked the attorney general about the progress of the recommendation’s implementation.
In reply, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the chief executive of the state (the prime minister) agreed to increase the retirement age, but the process would take some time.
At one point of the hearing, the attorney general sought time until December 14 from the court. An associate of the attorney general then asked him if he would be able to do it by that time.
The justices of the court heard the question, and Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah said: “If you (the attorney general) cannot do it by this time, we can fix the date until December 16 (the court remains closed that day). We can also fix December 16, 2016 if needed.”
Soon after, Justice Md Imman Ali said to the attorney general: “Have you ever watched Hindi series? They take a minimum of five years to end. We failed to end this in 15 years.”
After the hearing, Barrister Amir Ul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that a total of 179 judges of district and equivalent ranks are currently serving, most of whom are newcomers.
The Supreme Court had ordered the government to update the Judicial Service Rule on October 1, 2012, providing provisions for the member of the judicial service by increasing the retirement age to 62 years. The government has yet to take any action regarding this recommendation.
