Staff Reporter :Litigants lose nearly 70 per cent cases due to the lawyers’ inefficiency, said Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha at a seminar on Saturday. “The fate of the cases depends on the pleading of the lawyers. If they fail to properly prepare their cases, the judgment might go the other way. But the lawyers sometimes do not want to accept the verdict and get involved in vandalism inside the courts, which demeans the concept of rule of law. Lawyers and judges should work together to reduce the justice seekers’ agony,” he said.Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) organsied the seminar titled “The role of Bench and Bar to establish Rule of Law’ at the Supreme Court Bar Auditorium with its President Advocate Manzill Murshid in the chair. Speaking as the Chief Guest, Justice Sinha said the lawyers act like an architect in a case. “The fate of a case depends on the efficiency of a lawyer. The judges don’t want to hear arguments. They see the pleadings. But a large number of lawyers do not study the main fact of the cases.” “The judges cannot apply their power as they wish. If the lawyers are unable to perfectly prepare the case, their client will suffer. Litigants lose 60 to 70 per cent cases due to the incompetence of their lawyers. But sometimes lawyers appeared angry with the judges if the judgments go against them. Sometimes they get involved with vandalism in the courts. If the learned lawyers demean the court that way, the rule of law will not be established,” he said.At least 28,300 cases are pending with the lower courts, Justice Sinha said. “If the judges do not get cooperation from the lawyers, they cannot solve the case backlog. I have not seen the lawyers in the court even after 11:00 o’clock. We have to hold 25/30 cases everyday due to the absence of lawyers,” he said. The senior lawyers give certificates to the junior lawyers without properly grooming them for practice in the bar. With regards to the judge’s training, the Chief Justice said the trainee judges are facing serious accommodation problem during their training. Justice Sinha also urged the media to criticize the judiciary in a constructive way. “We welcome your constructive criticism. But you must have sound knowledge about your subject. We would not tolerate if you criticize the judiciary only to malign it,” he said. Among others, Advocate Abdul Baset Majumder, Justice Kazi Ebadul Haque, Advocate Yusuf Hossain Humayun and Justice Mohamad Awlad Ali also spoke at the seminar.
