Staff Reporter :
Not only the lawyers, the inefficiency of the judges is also equally responsible to cause sufferings to the justice seekers, Secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon said on Sunday.
Protesting the Chief Justice’s remarks about the lawyers, he said, “We are humiliated by the Chief Justice’s remark about the lawyers.”
The Chief Justice, Surendra Kumar Sinha, at a seminar on Saturday said the litigants lose 60 to 70 per cent cases due to the lawyers’ inefficiency. “But, to our humility, we want to say some inefficient judges alongside the lawyers are also equally responsible for the dismissal of a large number of cases,” Barrister Khokon said at a news conference at the Supreme Court Bar Auditorium in the city. A group of lawyers numbering five has already discussed the matter with the Chief Justice, he said.
“The Chief Justice’s assertion about the lawyers is not fully correct. We, the lawyers, always try to give our services to ensure fair justice for the people,” he said.
“The incapability of some judges is also causing delay in the case proceedings. We have apprised the Chief Justice of our views in this regard,” Khokon added.
SCBA is the only governing body for the lawyers in the country, but it does not get any financial assistance from the government to conduct training programmes for the lawyers, he said.
As of now, no government has formulated any guideline for the appointment of the judges, Barrister Khokon said, adding that the performance of many judges are also questionable.
“No judges with third division in any examination are appointed in the lower courts. But the persons with third division are appointed as High Court judges. In view of this, we can say some High Court judges are lesser efficient than the judges of lower courts,” he noted.
Among others, Vice President of SCBA Moktar Kabir Khan, Majedur Rahman, Shawkat Ara Begum Dulali and Mirza Al Mahbud also attended the conference.
Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha at a seminar on Saturday said that a large number of lawyers did not thoroughly study the facts of the cases. The lawyers are rarely seen in the court even after 11:00 am, resulting in a huge case backlog. Litigants lose 60 to 70 per cent cases due to the incompetence of their lawyers, the Chief Justice said in the seminar, organized by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) on the role of Bench and Bar to establish Rule of Law in the country. The Chief Justice 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.
