Khulna CMM Court faces severe backlog amid shortage of judges

Judge Shortage Deepens Case Delays at Khulna CMM Court

Thebangladaily.com – A prolonged shortage of magistrates has placed the Khulna Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court under exceptional pressure, leaving three serving judges to manage more than 19,000 unresolved cases while fresh matters continue arriving from city police stations each day.

As of August 31, the court had 19,046 pending cases. The workload has intensified after three of its six Metropolitan Magistrate positions remained unfilled for more than a month following routine transfers. The vacant positions include the post of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.

The result is a court system operating at half of its intended judicial strength. Each of the three functioning courts is now dealing with more than 6,000 pending matters, in addition to daily filings that require immediate attention. The accumulation affects the pace of hearings, witness appearances and the broader ability of litigants to move their cases forward.

Heavy Caseload Across Working Courts

Metropolitan Magistrate courts play a central role in the early and continuing stages of criminal proceedings. They deal with a wide range of cases connected to police stations, including matters that may later be sent to higher courts or specialist tribunals. When judicial posts stay vacant, existing judges must divide their time between older files and incoming cases.

In Khulna, 2,562 important cases have been transferred to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court and other tribunals for trial. Of those transferred matters, 426 have been resolved. While such transfers can move appropriate cases into the next stage of the justice process, the volume still awaiting disposal illustrates the scale of the strain across the local judicial system.

Administrative Officer Tapan Kumar Saha said that conducting proceedings in more than 19,000 cases with only three judges has become extremely difficult. The challenge is not limited to scheduling hearings. Court staff, lawyers, witnesses, accused persons and complainants must all work within a calendar that has far fewer available hearing slots than the pending caseload demands.

Costs for Plaintiffs and Defendants

Senior Khulna District Bar Association member Advocate Abdul Malek said vacancies in judicial posts create hardship for both sides of a case. For plaintiffs, delays can mean extended waits before evidence is heard and legal disputes are resolved. For defendants, repeated appearances and long-running proceedings may bring additional expenses, lost time and continued uncertainty.

Judicial vacancies harm both plaintiffs and defendants by delaying witness testimony and increasing the financial and time burdens faced by accused individuals.

Witness testimony is particularly vulnerable when cases remain unresolved for long periods. Witnesses may have difficulty returning to court repeatedly, and the passage of time can make it harder to maintain participation in a case. Abdul Malek called for the vacant magistrate posts to be filled without delay so that the court can address the growing number of unresolved matters.

The issue also has consequences beyond individual files. A court’s ability to hear cases within a reasonable period is closely tied to public confidence in the justice process. When litigants face repeated adjournments or extended waits for basic procedural steps, the burden can become especially difficult for people who must travel, take leave from work or arrange legal representation for every hearing date.

Concerns Over Courtroom Space

Advocate Mominul Islam, coordinator of Human Rights Implementation Organization Khulna, warned that prolonged trials can weaken meaningful access to justice. He said delayed proceedings may discourage witnesses from continuing their involvement and can create greater opportunities for influential defendants to interfere with testimony.

Lengthy proceedings can make witnesses reluctant and undermine the practical delivery of justice.

He also pointed to a separate but related obstacle: limited courtroom space. At the Child Misconduct Prevention Tribunal, two judges are compelled to share a single room. Such limitations can further complicate scheduling and reduce the practical capacity of courts already trying to handle large caseloads.

The shortage at the Khulna CMM Court therefore reflects more than an administrative gap created by transfers. It affects the daily operation of the criminal justice process, from the first handling of police-linked cases to the movement of serious matters toward trial. Filling the three vacant positions would restore the court to its intended six-magistrate structure and could ease the concentration of cases currently placed on the remaining judges.

Until then, the three serving magistrates will continue balancing thousands of existing files with new submissions, while litigants, witnesses and lawyers wait for the court system to regain the staffing and space needed to process cases more effectively.