ASHUTOSH SARKAR

The growing backlog of cases continues to strain the country’s judicial system, making it increasingly difficult for many justice seekers to get legal remedies timely.

A staggering 45,16,603 cases were pending with the Appellate Division, the High Court, and lower courts across the country as of December 31 last year, up from 17,89,914 in 2008, shows a Supreme Court report published this year.

On average, 160,393 cases were added to the tally of pending cases each year since 2008. In 2024 alone, 14,73,073 cases were filed while 12,01,240 cases were disposed of, according to the SC report.

Each HC judge is burdened with 6,552 cases, while Appellate Division judges are handling 4,446 cases each, and lower court judges 1,977 cases each.

Asked, SC Registrar General Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan said 13 committees were formed recently to monitor proceedings at lower courts and expedite the disposal of cases.

JUSTICE DELAYED

Nusrat Jahan Rafi, a madrasa student in Feni, was set alight on April 6, 2019, by four people at the behest of Siraj ud Daula, the then principal of Sonagazi Islamia Fazil Madrasa. This came after she refused to withdraw a case accusing Siraj of sexually harassing her.

Four days later, Nusrat died from burn injuries.

A Feni court on October 24, 2019, handed down death sentence to all 16 accused, including Siraj, for the murder that shocked the nation.

Since then, the death reference (lower court documents on death sentence) and the appeals filed by the convicts have been pending with the HC.

“We don’t know why it [the HC] has not disposed of the case,” Nusrat’s brother Mahmudul Hasan Noman told The Daily Star over the phone.

“The relatives of the convicts are constantly giving us threats on social media.”

Another case filed over the custodial death of a 28-year-old man remains pending for over a decade.

Ishtiaque Hossain Jonny, a garment-waste

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