Chief justice forms SC, HC benches

Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain yesterday constituted three single-judge benches of the High Court for holding virtual hearing and disposing of urgent cases through digital services during the ongoing closure.          

The three HC judges are Justice Obaidul Hassan, Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar.

He also formed a bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court with Justice Md Nuruzzaman for virtual hearing.

The chief justice took the decision in a full court meeting with the judges of the SC's Appellate and High Court Divisions through videoconference.

Meeting sources said he also decided to  issue necessary directives for the lower courts for holding trial proceedings of urgent cases through using information and communication technology during the ongoing closure. He will issue necessary directives in line with the ordinance issued by President Abdul Hamid on Saturday.

Regular activities of all courts are closed since March 26. The closure is scheduled to stay till May 16.

Several lawyers have requested the chief justice to allow virtual court functions during the ongoing closure.

Syed Mahmud Hossain at a full court meeting with the the judges recently decided to request the government to take necessary steps in this regard and subsequently,  the cabinet on May 7 approved an ordinance.

Following the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam told a news briefing at his secretariat office, "It is necessary to formulate a legal framework to continue the trial process in courts digitally or through videoconferencing, since dthe backlog of cases is increasing."

"So, the cabinet has finally approved the Information Technology Usage Ordinance by the Court, 2020," he said. Once the ordinance comes into force, trials can be held digitally without the physical presence of lawyers and their clients in courts.