Due to legal complications, irregular presence of administrators and various administrative incoordination, the activities of the village courts in the union parishads of Dhamrai upazila of Dhaka district have come to a standstill. While this court was supposed to be the main hope for resolving minor disputes of the marginalized people of the village, only 3 cases have been filed in most of the unions of the upazila in the last five months. As a result, the common people are being deprived of justice, and the acceptance of this court is decreasing day by day among the common people.
The ‘administrator’ crisis and irregular presence behind the stagnation:
The investigation revealed that out of the 16 unions and 1 municipality of Dhamrai upazila, only 3 unions are currently serving as elected chairmen and 1 as panel chairmen. The remaining 12 union parishads are being run by government administrators.
There are allegations that most of these administrators, who are assigned additional responsibilities, only get the opportunity to sit in the concerned union parishads one day a week. As a result, litigants coming from far and wide are not able to come and meet them. As a result, the common people are suffering from an extreme crisis of trust and are being forced to turn their backs on the village courts.
Dhamrai Upazila Village Court Coordinator Jasim Uddin acknowledged the truth of this crisis and said:
“The general public is now turning away from the village courts due to the lack of elected representatives in most union parishads and the lack of public trust in the administrators.”
Inactivity of member representatives and administrative complications:
According to the rules, a member (UP member) representative is appointed in each union parishad to manage the activities of the village court. But currently, due to various administrative complications and the absence of elected chairmen, these representatives are also unable to work independently or regularly. As a result, the initial processes of the court at the grassroots level have come to a standstill.
Case rate far behind target:
Analyzing the statistics of the last five months, it can be seen that according to the ideal rule, at least 5 cases should be received and at least 4 cases should be disposed of in the village court of each union parishad every month. But the reality of Dhamrai is completely opposite. Due to irregular presence of administrators and distrust of the people, in the last five months, most unions of the upazila have received an average of only 3 cases, which is very disappointing compared to the target.
Training and government activities are underway to make
the village court more dynamic: The district administration is not giving up on resolving the situation. It is learnt that various initiatives are being taken to make the activities of the village court more dynamic and active. Al Faruq Gazi, GM of Dhaka District Village Court, said: “We are organizing extensive publicity, meetings and seminars to make the activities of this important village court more dynamic. In addition, professional training is being provided at various levels to the officers and representatives directly involved in the village court.”
On the other hand, Dhamrai Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Al Mamun expressed optimism about keeping the work of the Parishad active and said: “The responsible administrators are trying their best to keep the work of the Parishad properly active even after completing their main official activities. In particular, various steps are being taken by the administration to make the activities of the village court more dynamic and people-oriented.”
Locals’ expectations:
Stakeholders believe that there is no alternative to village courts to provide legal services to the doorsteps of the common people of rural towns. However, to restore the lost trust of the people in this court in Dhamrai, it is necessary to make the presence of administrators more regular and quickly remove administrative complications.