The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is again facing a shortage of judges after three, including a chief justice, retired over the past seven months upon reaching the constitutional retirement age of 67.

Of the three apex court judges, then chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed retired on December 27 last year, Justice AKM Asaduzzaman on February 28 this year and Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam on July 14 this year.

At present, only four judges of the court, including Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, are handling more than 38,000 pending cases. On average, each top court judge has a caseload of 9,500 cases.

On July 9, 2009, the then president raised the number of Appellate Division judges from seven to 11 before several important cases were disposed of, including those relating to the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Fifth Amendment to the constitution.

The High Court Division is also facing a similar shortage, although 25 additional judges were appointed to the court on August 25 last year, raising the number of its judges to 113. More than 6.74 lakh cases are pending before the court.

Currently, the number of HC judges stands at 100, as seven judges have retired after reaching 67, four resigned after facing investigation by the Supreme Judicial Council, and two were removed on recommendations from the council.

Contacted, SC Bar Association Secretary Advocate Mohammad Ali said a good number of competent judges need to be appointed to increase the number of judges and the rate of case disposal, thereby reducing the backlog and the suffering of litigants.

“We, the newly elected leaders of the Supreme Court Bar Association, have met the chief justice and the law minister on separate occasions. We have requested them to take steps to appoint more competent judges as early as possible. They assured us of taking steps,” he said.

Replying to a query, he said the new judges would be appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chief justice under the constitution, as the SC Judges’ Appointment Ordinance has been repealed by parliament.

Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman, Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal, Law Secretary Liaqat Ali Mollah and Supreme Court Registrar General Mohammad Habibur Rahman Siddiquee could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts over the phone.