At present, more than three hundred judicial officers are working in the executive division on deputation. They are performing administrative duties in different ministries of the government. A source close to the Law Ministry said that the process of transferring more judges on deputation was underway.
According to sources, about 300 judicial officers are working in various ministries including the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Law, Ministry of Public Administration, Parliament Secretariat and Election Commission Secretariat. Some of these officers were briefly placed in court but were later but later transferred in the executive branch.
Following this, on February 9, in two separate orders from the Law and Justice Department of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, 126 senior assistant judges and assistant judges, including four district judges were transferred. 20 of them have been transferred on deputation. Of these, 17 were transferred as Legal Aid Officers, one in the Law and Justice Department of the Law Ministry, one in the Minimum Wage Board and one as an officer of the International Criminal Tribunal.
The transfer order mentions the issuance of two separate notifications from the Law and Justice Department of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs by order of the President. It said the transfer was done in consultation with the Supreme Court.
Incidentally, after the separation of the judiciary from the executive branch on November 1, 2007, the Supreme Court should have sole jurisdiction in all matters including appointment, transfer and promotion of judges. But since there is no separate secretariat for the Supreme Court, there is scope for executive order in the transfer and promotion of judges.
Meanwhile, due to the Corona pandemic, the number of cases pending in the country's higher and lower courts has increased due to the closure of regular judicial proceedings. According to the relevant sources, so far the number of pending cases in the country is 39 lakh 33 thousand 17. An additional 244,000 cases have been added due to the coronavirus. However, at the same time, ie in 20 months, 3 lakh 23 thousand cases have been disposed of through the virtual court, said Law Minister Anisul Haque.
Concerned parties think that in the last one decade, the number of cases from the highest court of the country to all the lower courts has increased but the number of judges has not increased. The number of judges in Bangladesh is much less than other countries. As a result, the number of cases is increasing. Justice is being delayed. Therefore, in order to reduce the number of cases, the working hours of the court can be increased by stopping the transfer on deputation, appointing judges in the higher and lower courts and reducing the leave.
In this context, senior Supreme Court lawyer and human rights activist Z I Khan Panna told daily The Amader Barta that it is the duty of a judge to perform his duties. But if they are kept out of the judiciary year after year, their efficiency will decrease. On the other hand, there will be a crisis of judges in the lower courts. As a result, litigation will increase.
He said if there are additional judicial officers, the deputation could be given to another ministry. Since there is no excess. On top of that, there is a judicial crisis in the courts so retired judges can be appointed on contract basis. In that case there will be no need for transfer from any court to the ministry on deputation.
Recently, the Ministry of Law has been appointing judicial officers in administrative work on a large scale. Such an initiative is weakening the core spirit of the Masdar Hossain case regarding the separation of the judiciary.