UNB, Khulna :
A huge backlog of around 50 lakh cases is pending with the courts in Khulna due to acute shortage of judges.
Besides, 3,350 more cases have been added to the already-growing list of cases in the civil and criminal courts.
As the courts are overburdened with settlement pleas, sources fear that the situation might worsen within the next 3-4 years.
Lack of manpower is mainly hampering the case proceedings as no judges were available in several important courts in the last one year.
According to sources, over 40,000 cases were under trial in twenty courts of the district judgeship from January to December in 1015, of which, 28,973 were civil cases, 4,828 criminal cases and 1,024 loan cases.
The sources said 1,312 civil and 877 criminal cases were pending with the district judge’s court alone during the period.
More than 6,000 cases are pending with Khulna Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal.
Sources said the post of judge in the tribunal remained vacant from January to May last year.
Police sources said 3,354 cases were filed with 17 police stations of the district in the last one year.
Senior Advocate Enayet Ali observed that delay in trial process deprives the litigants of justice and causes financial losses to them as well.
According to him, some cases have extended beyond 15-20 years, during which both plaintiffs and defendants used lawyers to serve their personal purposes.
The lawyer informed that nothing is going to progress by mere law amendment, unless skilled judges are appointed.
This can only be done through an improved quality of legal education and no political intervention during judicial recruitments.
He said that it would also help if the verdict given, by the judge of a lower court, is not altered even after appealing against it in the higher courts.
Public Prosecutor Kazi Abu Shaheen, also former president of Khulna District Bar Association, said stagnancy in case settlements, poor management and understaffed manpower are the main causes behind the lack of progress of these cases.
