Govt to appoint new judges: Law minister

As the issues regarding the appointment of the chief justice have been settled, the government will now take steps for appointing some new judges to both the Appellate and High Court Divisions of the Supreme Court.

Following the resignations of Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha as chief justice on November 10 last year and of Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, who had been performing functions of the chief justice for four months, from the post of Appellate Division judge on February 2 this year and retirements and death of some judges, both the Appellate and High Court Divisions have been facing acute shortage of judges.

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“Some new judges will be appointed to the High Court Division and some judges from the High Court Division will be promoted to the Appellate Division as the new chief justice has been appointed. We will take necessary steps to this effect after consulting with the chief justice,” Law Minister Anisul Huq told The Daily Star today.

The minister, however, did not disclose the names and numbers of the people who will be appointed as new judges of the High Court and Appellate Divisions.

President Abdul Hamid appointed Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, a senior judge of the Appellate Division, as 22nd chief justice of the country on February 2 superseding Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah.

The same day, Justice Wahhab Miah resigned from the post of the apex court judge citing “unavoidable personal reason”.

The number of Appellate Division judges has come down to four from 11 in 2009 after resignation of Justice SK Sinha and Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah and the retirement of Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, the first-ever female judge of the apex court, on July 7 last year.

The High Court Division has also been facing a similar shortage of judges following retirement and death of some judges in last several months. The number of HC judge now stands at 81, which was 100 in June 2012.

Government appointed 166 judges to the lower courts recently for increasing the disposal of the cases. Their postings are waiting for Supreme Court’s approval.

The Appellate Division judges are dealing with more than 16,500 cases. On the other side, 81 HC judges are dealing with more than 4.76 lakh cases.

SC sources said around 1,400 judges are dealing with over 28 lakh cases are pending with lower courts across the country.