57 benches formed in High Court, hearings begin Sunday

Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury has formed 57 benches to conduct judicial work in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court. Hearings in these benches will begin on Sunday (25 October), after the vacation break, it has been announced.

The list of the new benches was published on the Supreme Court website on Saturday (24 October). Such bench lists usually specify which justices will sit on which bench and what kinds of cases they will hear, so that litigants can know in advance where their cases will be heard.

On the first working day, however, proceedings will start somewhat late. Because of a courtesy meeting with the Chief Justice and the justices of both divisions of the Supreme Court, judicial work in the High Court Division will begin at 2:30pm on Sunday.

A separate Supreme Court notice said the courtesy meeting will be held on Sunday, the first working day after the vacation, from 9:30am to 12:30pm in the corridor in front of Court No. 1 of the Appellate Division.

The Attorney General, the president and secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association and lawyers will join the Chief Justice and justices of both divisions at the courtesy meeting. The gathering on the day the court reopens after a break is a long-standing Supreme Court tradition.

For the same reason, judicial work in Court No. 1 of the Appellate Division will remain closed on Sunday, the notice said. In other words, no cases will be heard in that court on the first day, and litigants and lawyers will need to prepare accordingly.

Because regular court work stops during the vacation, there is always a risk of a growing case backlog. Once the new benches begin full hearings after the reopening, that backlog gradually starts to ease — which is why lawyers and litigants watch the post-vacation bench formation so closely.

With 57 benches working at once, the High Court Division will be able to hear many cases every day. Writ, criminal, civil, company and revenue cases are distributed among these benches so that each bench can focus on its assigned subjects.

Forming benches is part of the Chief Justice's constitutional authority. He constitutes single or division benches as needed and assigns jurisdiction according to the type of case. The benches are also reconstituted from time to time.

After proceedings begin at 2:30pm on Sunday, the High Court is expected to run on its normal schedule from Monday. Litigants have been advised to check their case's bench and the cause list on the Supreme Court website.

All in all, with the formation of these 57 benches, the High Court Division is returning to full judicial work after the vacation. Lawyers and litigants now wait to see when their pending cases come up for hearing before the new benches.