Over half of judge posts in Tangail vacant for long

27 October 2009, 17:00 PM

Mirza Shakil, Tangail

Trial of cases is being greatly hampered in Tangail as over half of the posts of judges including that of district and sessions judge has remained vacant for long, causing sufferings to the litigants. Court sources said, only seven judges are performing the job although there are 20 posts of judges in the district. The post of district and sessions judge fell vacant on June 28 this year after Judge Soumendra Sarkar left Tangail to join Supreme Court as a judge of the High Court Division. "Although several applications have been sent to the law ministry in this regard, no reply has been received yet," said Tangail Bar Association President Advocate Golam Mostofa Miah. Bar association and court sources said no judge has been appointed for one of the two additional district and sessions judge's courts in the district for the last two months. First Additional District and Sessions Judge AKM Zahurul Alam has been performing judicial functions as acting district and sessions judge, as well as second additional district and sessions judge besides his own duty. As a result, judicial and administrative activities of the district courts are being hampered seriously, increasing the number of pending cases. A difficult situation now prevails in carrying out hearings of the civil and criminal revision and appeal cases in the district and sessions judge's court, said government lawyer Muhammad Abdur Rashid, also the general secretary of District Bar Association. Court sources said two judge's posts at the four joint district judge's courts in the district have been lying vacant for over a month. In Tangail district, there are 11 assistant judge's courts to handle judicial activities at the upazila level but the judicial posts in seven of them are now vacant. The judges of assistant judge's courts for Nagarpur, Kalihati, Madhupur and Ghatail upazilas are dealing with cases in other courts as additional duty. There is also shortage of judicial magistrates and additional chief judicial magistrates in the district for the last four months. Several litigants said delay in case disposal adds to their cost. The government should appoint judges against the vacant posts to ease judicial process, said several justice seekers and lawyers.