Bijoy-71 Bhaban. Photo: Collected

DHAKA, June 21, 2025(BSS) - Fourteen benches of the High Court (HC) division with the jurisdiction of writ, admiralty, company and criminal motions have been shifted to the annex and main building of the Supreme Court (SC) from the Bijoy-71 Bhaban.

An official release of the Supreme Court signed by its Registrar General Dr Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan today said that the benches were shifted following an instruction from the Chief Justice on the basis of an application from the Supreme Court Bar Association.

The SC Bar association in its application claimed that the location of Bijoy-71 Bhaban is comparatively away from the bar association and the number of lifts in the building is also insufficient. The lawyers and justice-seekers, especially the elderly and women lawyers, have been facing various problems to appear before the courts timely, as a result, judicial activities are being hampered and the justice-seekers are being deprived, the release said.

Following the application, Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed, sent the petition to the Judges' Committee for Supreme Court Estate Management, Preservation and Development to give opinion to dispose of the issue. The Chief Justice later on the basis of the recommendations of the committee instructed the concerned authority to shift those benches to new places, the release said, adding that the instruction will come into effect from June 22.

The writ bench at court number-9 of Bijoy-71 Bhaban headed by Justice Md Rezaul Hassan will be shifted to court number 10 at the main building while another writ bench at court number 3 headed by Justice Md Habibul Gani to be shifted at the court number 7 in the main building from the Bijoy-71 Bhaban.

The criminal bench headed by Justice J B M Hassan at court number-7 of the Bijoy-71 Bhaban will be shifted to the court number 13 at the Annex building while another writ bench (court number-1) headed by Justice Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury will be shifted at the court number 26 of the main building.

Another writ bench (court number 12) headed by Justice Md Jahangir Hossain will be shifted to the court number 14 at the main building while another bench with company matter headed by Justice Khijir Ahmed Chowdhury (court number 14) will be shifted to the court number 25 of the main building.

Another criminal bench (court number 11) headed by Justice ASM Abdul Mobin has been transferred to the court number-3 of the annex building while another criminal bench (court number-8) headed by Justice Mustafizur Rahman will be shifted to the court number 8 of the annex building.

The criminal bench headed by Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Molla has been shifted to the court number 16 at the annex building from the court number 15 of the Bejoy-71 building while another criminal bench headed by Justice Md Atoar Rahman was shifted to the court number 25 of the annex building from the court number 27 of the Bijoy-71 Bhaban.

Another writ bench headed by Justice Shashanka Shekhar Sarkar has been shifted to the court number 26 of the annex building from the court number 10 of the Bejoy-71 Bhaban while another criminal bench headed by Justice Muhammad Mahbub-ul-Islam was shifted to the court number-1 of the annex building from the court number 25 at Bejoy-71 Bhaban.

Another writ bench headed by Justice Fahmida Kader was transferred to the court number-12 at the annex building from the court number 20 of the Bejoy-71 Bhaban while another bench with company matter headed by Justice Shikder Mahmudur Razi was shifted to the court number 34 of the annex building.