Over 20,000 cases pending with Pabna courts

Prosecution hampered as 8 of 17 judges' posts vacant

6 March 2009, 18:00 PM

Our Correspondent, Pabna

Over 20 thousand cases including civil and criminal ones have remained pending with different courts in Pabna for a long time while the posts of eight out of 17 judges in the district are vacant. As many as 17,552 civil cases and 2,544 criminal cases remained pending till January this year, court sources said. A total of 14,237 civil cases are pending with nine assistant judges' courts in Pabna. Each assistant judge's court deals with civil cases for each upazila in the district. The pending civil cases in Assistant Judge's courts in Pabna Sadar, Ishwardi, Chatmohar, Santhia, Sujanagar, Bera, Faridpur, Atghoria and Vangura upazila are 4026, 2174, 1677, 2120, 1548, 752, 553, 649 and 738, official sources said. Besides, 3515 more civil cases are pending with District and Sessions Judge's Court, Additional District Judge's courts and Sub Judge's courts. Most of the civil cases have remained pending for years, sources said. Even there are cases that are pending for 20 years, said lawyers and court sources. The posts of Additional District Judge-1, Sub Judge-2, Sub Judge of Finance Court and five assistant judges for Atghoria, Vangura, Faridpur, Sujanagar and Bera upazilas under the district are now vacant. As many as 2,544 criminal cases remained pending with different courts in Pabna till January this year, official sources at Pabna District and Sessions Judge's Court said. Of the criminal cases, 865 are pending with District and Sessions judge's Court and the rest with Additional District Judge's Court, Sub Judge's Courts, Special Court and other courts here. “A large number cases are pending with different courts in Pabna for long due to lack of adequate judges. The rate of case disposal is too slow while filing of a good number of new cases adds to worsening the situation. Every month, over 500 cases are filed in an average while 125 to 130 cases are usually disposed off,” Md Ohiduzzaman, administrative officer of Pabna District and Sessions Judge's Court, said. Lawyers said lack of adequate judges is the main cause for a large number of pending cases while there are allegations that a section of lawyers sometimes try to linger the cases. “As the posts of eight out of 17 judges are vacant here, trial of cases is delayed and people concerned are often deprived of justice in time. Filling up the posts of judges is essential for early disposal of a number of cases,” advocate Shafiqul Islam Shibli, a senior lawyer of Pabna Bar Association, said.