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By SM Ashikuzzaman

DHAKA, June 24, 2026 (BSS) - The High Court has set a new milestone by disposing of 20,740 old cases in just four working days as part of measures taken to reduce the backlog of cases and enhance the efficiency of the judiciary.

Commenting on the disposal of a large number of old cases, Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal told BSS that the initiative taken by the Chief Justice to dispose of old cases at the High Court was commendable and expressed hope that the process would continue.

"Attorney General's Office wants to work closely with the Supreme Court to reduce the case backlog. I already talked to the Chief Justice and placed several suggestions regarding the disposal of pending cases. My office had submitted a list of 1,400 cases for expeditious disposal," he said.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court Public Relations Officer Md Shafiqul Islam told BSS that following the directive of Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, a special drive was launched on May 7 to prioritise the disposal of long-pending old criminal miscellaneous and writ cases on designated days every week.

He said the special initiative, undertaken to ensure speedy justice for litigants, reduce the case backlog and enhance the efficiency of the judiciary, has resulted in the disposal of a significant number of old cases.

Supreme Court Public Relations Officer Md Shafiqul Islam also disclosed that a total of 3,247 old criminal miscellaneous cases were disposed of by the High Court Division's criminal motion benches on May 7. At the same time, 1,765 old writ cases were disposed of by the writ motion benches.

On May 14, the criminal motion benches of the High Court Division disposed of 3,842 old criminal miscellaneous cases, while the writ motion benches disposed of 3,262 old writ cases.

On June 11, a total of 6,199 old criminal miscellaneous cases were disposed of by 14 criminal motion benches of the High Court Division. Besides, on June 18, the criminal motion benches disposed of 1,884 old criminal miscellaneous cases, while the writ motion benches disposed of 541 old writ cases.

The latest information provided by Md Shafiqul Islam, since the launch of the special drive for disposing of old cases at the High Court, a total of 15,172 old criminal miscellaneous cases and 5,568 old writ cases have been disposed of in only four working days, with one day allocated each week for the purpose.