Regionalisation High Court Bench in Bangladesh
The Constitution (Eighth Amendment) Act, 1988 (Act No. XXX of 1988) established six permanent benches of the High Court Division in different divisions of Bangladesh. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court abolished regionalisation in 1989. The Judges were influenced by the Indian Case Law, Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, reported in (1973) 4 SCC 225, and some Barristers disagreed with the Eighth Amendment for their interest rather than the public interest.
The regionalisation will affect the lawyers’ interest as their client base will be reduced radically. Hence, a proposal to establish High Court benches in some divisional cities of the country has come under discussion. This proposal has received mixed reactions from the legal community rather than the Public.
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However, the majority of the general Lawyers have been urging the Chief Justice that it will help quicker disposal of cases and will save time and costs for the litigants of the Country, and these permanent divisional benches allow more cases to be handled in less time. At present, 5.77 lakh pending cases are waiting to be resolved. In a country of 180 million people, a judicial system needs to be brought to the people of remote areas, as it has been required since 1988.
Moreover, there are many good lawyers at the Division, and new ones will also develop their practice, and litigants do not need to travel to the Capital city, Dhaka, for appeal. They can deal with it in their Division. The politically affiliated lawyer could make an easy liaison with their local people.
The President can pass an Order that the High Court division bench be permanently transferred to a divisional city, then the provision in Article 100 of the Constitution should be amended in the next elected parliament as per the President’s Order and all political parties’ recent agreement. So, it will not be a violation of the Constitution.
If the President can pass an Order, then new judges, support staff, infrastructure, and security are required, along with a separate Judicial Secretariat.
In conclusion, in the long-term interest of the judiciary, it has been requested that the Honourable Chief Justice take permanent initiative to transfer the High Court division benches to divisional cities.
Author : Sohul Ahmed; Advocate of the Bangladesh Supreme Court & Lawyer, the Supreme Court of England. Email: sohulm59@gmail.com
