Home ›› 01 May 2023 ›› Front
Kamal Pasha has been waiting for justice for over 11 years since filing a case with a Khulna labour court in 2012, seeking his dues of Tk 5 lakh from Jessore Jute Industries Ltd.
Kamal Pasha, who was a security guard in the jute industry, is yet to get dues he claimed to the authority concerned. On January 1, 2014, labour court gave a verdict in favour of Kamal Pasha in the case but his employer authority filed a petition with the Labour Appellate Tribunal in Dhaka, challenging the verdict.
Though the appellate tribunal delivered the verdict on December 2, 2014 in favour of Kamal Pasha, the authority again filed two separate writ petitions with the High Court, challenging the verdict which was also rejected after hearing.
However, the case is still pending as Jute Industries again lodged a leave-to-appeal with the Supreme Court against the rejection of their writ petitions by the High Court.
Expressing disappointment, Kamal Pasha told The Business Post, “I made a mistake by filing the case. If I didn’t file the case, I do not have to face such suffering.”
“This is a bitter experience, but I am still waiting for justice,” he said.
“I needed to travel to attend court sessions while I had to spend a handsome amount of money to conduct the case though the labour court gave verdict in favour of me in 2014,” said Kamal Pasha who is currently working at Jatio Jute Mills Ltd in Sirajganj.
Like Kamal Pasha, many workers are going through a very difficult time as ten labour courts and Labour Appellate Tribunal had 24,007 cases pending as of March this year.
Labour courts burdened with cases
The country’s labour courts and lone labour appellate tribunal are burdened with a massive backlog of cases while thousands of workers have long been waiting for justice.
Currently, three out of the ten labour courts are in Dhaka, two in Chattogram and one each in Rajshahi, Khulna, Rangpur, Sylhet and Barishal. Labour Appellate Tribunal is also based in Dhaka.
The registrar’s office of Labour Appellate Tribunal keeps records of pending cases only in three categories--over one month, over three and over six months. So, if a case remains pending for more than one year, it belongs to the over six-month category.
The registrar office data shows that a total of 19,609 cases are pending for over six months, 3,078 for more than three months and 1,320 for more than one month.
A total of 1,494 cases are pending with appellate tribunal, 8,248 with Dhaka first court, 7,138 with Dhaka second court, 4,239 cases with Dhaka third court, 1,699 with Chattogram first court, 689 with Chattogram second court, 159 with Khulna court and 133 cases with Rajshahi court, 54 cases with Rangpur court, 83 cases with Sylhet court and 71 cases with Barishal court.
Registrar Adhir Chandra Bala of the appellate tribunal told The Business Post that the rate of case disposal is increasing after setting up of new labour courts. “The backlog is a result of pending cases from the past,” he said.
The government took initiative to reduce the backlog of cases, he said, adding that the disposal rate of the cases will also increase after three more new courts, set up in Cumilla, Narayanganj and Gazipur, start dealing with cases.
Reasons for delay in disposal of cases
Lawyers and court officials said one after another time petitions filed by lawyers especially by representing owners and frequent absences of members of labour courts cause unnecessary delay in the disposal of cases.
Workers said the delay in the disposal of cases costs the complainants additional money. A worker needs a day’s leave from the employer to attend a hearing in a labour court, which creates problems for him or her in the workplace.
In most cases, owners’ lawyers file unnecessary time petitions repeatedly, which delays the decisions of the courts and lingers the cases, said a lawyer, practising at Dhaka labour court.
He also said frequent absences of members of the courts also cause unnecessary delay in disposing of the cases.
A labour court consists of a chairman and two members--one representing the workers and the other representing the employers. The chairman, who is a judge, picks the two members to constitute the court for the purpose of hearing an industrial dispute or a dispute relating to service/employment of workers.
Amirul Haque Amin, president of National Garment Workers Federation, told The Business Post that the key reason for the backlog of cases in the labour court is that the judges are not coming to the court timely and not giving time to complete the case.
“The judges are conducting trials as per their wish instead of following government-fixed court time due to a lack of proper monitoring,” he claimed.
“Apart from the judges of the court, many appointed members of the court are also not giving time due to their busyness in other works. Taking these into consideration, the labour court should be formed,” he said.
Amirul Haque also blamed the court officials for negligence of duty. The law and labour ministries can take effective steps to reduce the backlog of cases. Only then the labour court cases can be settled quickly, he added.
Talking to The Business Post, Labour Court Bar Association President Rafiqul Islam said that the labour court judges are not much experienced in dealing with labour cases as the proceedings in the cases are going on at a snail’s pace.
“When a judge skilled to deal with such cases after some time, then the government transferred them and a new judge is appointed with the court that’s one of the reasons behind the backlog.”
Besides, the employers’ frequent time prayers caused the delay in disposing of the cases, he added.
Labour courts flout timeframe
Court sources said workers face long delays in justice as labour courts and the Labour Appellate Tribunal flout the stipulated 60-day timeframe for the disposal of cases.
Most of the cases have remained stuck for years even though labour law provides that cases should be disposed of within 60 days. If the cases are not disposed of within 60 days, the court can extend the deadline for another 90 days, showing a valid reason.
However, most of the pending cases remain stuck for over 10 years with the labour courts. As a result, thousands of justice-seekers suffer for years.
One of the problems relating to the cases is that the law does not specifically state what would happen if the case is not settled within the stipulated time.
Court officials said most cases are from the apparel sector and related to disputes arising out of layoffs, dismissals, retrenchment, non-payment and delay in payment of wages and other benefits, compensation for workplace injuries and violation of trade union rights.
Govt takes steps to reduce backlog of cases
The government set up three new labour courts in Sylhet, Barishal and Rangpur in 2019 aiming to ease the backlog of cases.
But the number of pending cases did not decrease significantly even after setting up of new labour courts. The pending cases with the labour courts were 17,600 in 2019 and the cases increased to 24,000 as of March this year.
The government has recently also set up three more labour courts in Cumilla, Narayanganj and Gazipur aiming to reduce the huge backlog of cases.
The cases are being transferred to the new courts although the trial proceedings at the newly set up three courts are yet to be started.
Labour Court Bar Association President Rafiqul Islam alleged that the new courts now created new problems as the old cases are transferred to the new courts which will take further time to complete through fresh trial proceedings with the new courts.
He urged the government to settle the old cases with old labour courts, otherwise, the time of case will further linger due to transfer to the new courts and sufferings of workers will also mount.
