Court backlog exceeds 40 lakh
The case backlog remains a major challenge in Bangladesh’s lower courts, with over 40 lakh cases pending, Law Minister Asaduzzaman has said, while also outlining government efforts to withdraw politically motivated harassment cases.
The Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister made the remarks in parliament on Thursday while responding to a written question tabled by Magura-1 constituency lawmaker Md. Monowar Hossain.
He said that at the end of the previous year, 4,041,924 cases were pending at the trial stage in the country’s lower courts.
To help reduce the growing backlog, the government has established 871 courts and created 232 posts for judges, he added in response to a separate question from BNP MP Jahandar Ali Miah during the question-and-answer session.
The minister also said the government is fully aware of politically motivated harassment cases filed during the previous Awami League government and has taken effective steps to withdraw such cases.
He informed parliament that earlier, the interim government formed a committee to recommend withdrawal of such cases, but no murder cases were withdrawn based on its policy decisions.
On March 5 this year, a four-member district-level committee was formed under the coordination of deputy commissioners to review politically motivated harassment cases.
Based on their recommendations, a six-member central committee headed by the law minister was formed on March 8 to make final decisions.
The central committee is currently scrutinising recommendations from district-level committees and continuing the process of case withdrawal.
The minister said that applications for withdrawal of politically motivated, false, and harassment cases—including murder cases—against any individual, including Members of Parliament, will be reviewed through proper procedures by both district and central committees.
If a case is found to be politically motivated after review, necessary steps will be taken accordingly, he added.
He further said the government is committed to providing relief to victims of politically motivated legal harassment.
