The parliamentary watchdog on Law Ministry has recommended increasing the number of higher and lower court judges to 5,000 from the existing 1,700 to accelerate disposal of cases.
In line with a report by the Law Commission, the 10-member Parliamentary Standing Committee also suggested that police must produce an arrestee before the court within 24 hours – as stipulated in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The committee discussed the Law Commission report to find ways for reducing the backlog of 32 lakh cases.
Commission Chairman ABM Khairul Haque placed the report in line with a previous decision of the watchdog. The committee adopted the suggestions and sent those to the Law Ministry as its recommendations.
“At present we have 1,700 judges. For quick disposal of the cases, the number should be raised to 5,000 – of course in phases,” Suranjit Sengupta, the committee chairman, told reporters at the parliament building.
He said since appointment of judges involved a huge budget, the committee suggested increasing allocation for the Law Ministry in the upcoming budget, set to be placed in parliament on June 5.
In his 23-point suggestions, Khairul Haque, a former chief justice, proposed that the judges must be present in courts from 9am to 5pm. The proposal, accessed by the Dhaka Tribune, says the monthly meeting of the district judges must be conducted regularly.
The set of recommendations states that the civil cases should be heard on the first day and continued, while issuing of summons at an appropriate stage. Besides these, the lower courts must not be adjourned at will.
Committee members Law Minister Anisul Haq, Tajul Islam Chowdhury, Shahara Khatun, Shamsul Hoque Tuku, Abdul Majid Khan and Talukder Md Yunus attended the meeting presided over by Suranjit.
