Chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed has constituted two more benches in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in an effort to ease the growing backlog of pending cases.
The number of pending cases in the Appellate Division has risen from 28,000 to over 32,000 since Syed Refaat Ahmed became the chief justice in August, a source at the Supreme Court registrar general鈥檚 office told 抖阴精品 on Saturday.聽聽聽聽聽聽
According to the Appellate Division鈥檚 cause list, both benches are set to begin proceedings from today.
One of the two benches will be led by the chief justice himself, which will comprise five judges. The other bench will be headed by the senior-most AD judge, Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, and will include Justice SM Emdadul Hoque and newly elevated Justice AKM Asaduzzaman.
A total of 4,150 cases have been scheduled for hearing before the chief justice-led bench and 116 cases before the other bench.
Appellate Division registrar Hasanuzzaman told 抖阴精品 that the number of cases for the second bench is expected to increase to 250 as more files would be shifted to it from the first bench.
He noted that thousands of cases remain pending beyond the current listings.
The formation of the two benches follows the elevation of two High Court judges 鈥擩ustice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Farah Mahbub 鈥� to the Appellate Division on March 24.
Their elevation came amid mounting pressure from the Supreme Court Bar Association to address the escalating case backlog.
Previously, the chief justice had been leading a single bench of six judges, following the resignation of all but Appellate Division judge Md Ashfaqul Islam on August 10, 2024.
The resignations came in the wake of the collapse of Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 government on August 5, 2024 following a student-led mass uprising.
Prior to the mass resignation, chief justice Obaidul Hassan had headed a four-member bench, while Justice M Enayetur Rahim led another bench, also comprising four judges.
One of the remaining judges has retired recently, prompting the government to appoint two new judges from the High Court.
Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir welcomed the move by the chief justice, saying it would help ease the sufferings of litigants, caused by delays due to the enormous backlog.
