The High Court and Appellate divisions of the Supreme Court have long been facing an acute shortage of judges.

While three judges have recently been appointed to the Appellate Division to resolve the issue to some extent, no visible step has yet been taken for the High Court Division in this regard.

Due to the scarcity of judges, the backlog of cases with the HC keeps piling up, thereby causing immeasurable sufferings to the litigants, according to legal experts.

The number of High Court judges now stands at 84 after three judges were elevated to the Appellate Division. The number of High Court judges was 100 in June 2012.

Among the total 84 HC judges, three have been excluded from judicial functions for about five years, as an inquiry centring them is pending.

Besides, three other judges are running the International Crimes Tribunal to deal with 1971 war-crimes related cases.

Now, 78 judges are functioning for hearing and disposing of the HC cases. Each of them is burdened with more than 6,900 cases on average as about 5.43 lakh cases are pending with this court.

Considering this situation, the government is planning to appoint some new judges to the High Court Division in order to resolve the crisis of judges and to increase the rate of case disposal, Law Minister Anisul Huq told The Daily Star.

The president will make the appointments of new High Court judges. He will decide on how many judges will be appointed for the HC, he added.

Meanwhile, the lower court judges are also burdened with a huge number of cases as there are just above 1,800 judges to deal with more than 37 lakh cases pending with the courts across the country, SC sources said.

Contacted, senior lawyer and Dhaka Law Reports (DLR) Editor Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan said due to the shortage of judges the number of case backlog is increasing.

More competent judges must be appointed for both the Appellate and High Court divisions to increase the rate of case disposal and decrease the sufferings of litigants.