Dev projects tied up in cases among govt agencies

Different public agencies have been turning to courts and suing each other more frequently in recent years, sending such intragovernmental pending caseloads to 11,400 until December last year, ministry data show.

The rising number of cases coupled with a poor settlement rate push up the cost and time of development projects and officials concerned estimate that public asset and development works worth Tk20,000 crore are now caught up in such legal battles – mostly land related disputes.

Plus, both the plaintiff and defendant face an awkward situation in the courtroom since they belong to the same government team at the end of the day, according to Barrister Masudur Rahman who has been representing the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) in a 31-year-old land case against the Public Works Department (PWD).

In this instance, the dispute began in 1991 when the PWD acquired three acres of BJMC land in Gaibandha to develop a residential area for government officials. The jute mill authorities subsequently challenged the move in the High Court. The court stayed the land acquisition and sought an explanation that is yet to be submitted.

As a result, the land, now worth Tk15 crore, remains unused and the housing project was later shifted to another area.

"A case against a public office by another is embarrassing, deterring both the parties from moving ahead with the lawsuit," says lawyer Masudur Rahman.

Infograph: TBS

According to the solicitor wing at the law ministry, the number of pending intragovernmental cases have been on a gradual rise since 2017. Of the total 11,400 cases, 6,800 are now pending with the High Court, while 3,200 have been going on for more than 10 years.

Some 340 cases are pending with the Appellate Division, while 120 of them are more than 10 years old. Remaining 4,260 cases are with different lower courts.

Solicitor wing data show 432 cases on an average have been disposed of annually since 2017.

The legal cost of the pending cases is Tk1,200 crore a year, which the jurists term "a mere waste of people's money".

Jetty moves, but dispute stands out

In 2013, the shipping ministry allocated Tk61 crore to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) for repairing a jetty in Bogura's Sariakandi. That same year, the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) took up a Tk150 crore river training and embankment project in the same area.

An argument between the BIWTC and the BWDB surfaced over whether the jetty repairing or river training would begin first, leading to a legal battle in the High Court.

Both the allocations remained unspent. With a Tk120 crore new funding, the BIWTC constructed a new jetty and launched it last year, facilitating river transportation between Jamalpur and Bogura. The legal battle, however, is yet to be settled.

"To join the court hearing, the Water Development Board took time on multiple occasions. Besides, the jurisdiction of the High Court bench concerned changed multiple times leaving the fate of the case uncertain," BIWTC lawyer Barrister Rafsan Alvi told The Business Standard.

Development delayed

With as many as 2,180 pending lawsuits, the Bangladesh Railway tops the case list, show solicitor wing data. Besides, the Water Development Board has the second highest 1,400 pending cases, while the Land Record and Survey Department faces 1,200 cases.

Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan said most of the cases are quite old as railway "did not file such cases in recent years".

Most of the railway's cases are against the Public Works Department, the Roads and Highways Department, the Water Development Board, the food ministry and several district administrations.

"We are now working to get the old cases disposed of," the minister told The Business Standard. He noted that many railway projects have been stalled for years thanks to these cases.

"The other way round, those cases entangled many crucial development projects of different government agencies and offices," noted the railway minister.

People's money down the drain

A solicitor wing official said government agencies spent Tk1,200 crore a year to run the cases. The astounding legal cost includes lawyer appointment, preparing the case documents, fees for filing cases and appeals.

"The government agencies have 2,300 lawyers, and 80% of the annual Tk1,200 crore spending goes for lawyer payments," said the official while talking to TBS on condition of anonymity.

Eminent jurist Shahdeen Malik termed the legal spending "a mere waste of people's money".

"The cases symbolise the staggering number of inefficient officials in public services too," he said, adding that there would have been no such cases if the government agencies had a minimum coordination.

Easy way or hard way – choosing the latter

The Cabinet Division in 2016 formed two committees to resolve disputes among the public agencies outside the court. The division asked the offices to submit information about ongoing cases.

Public offices were instructed not to file cases if any intragovernmental dispute surfaces. Instead of lawsuits, the offices were told to inform the arbitration committee.

"But that initiative appeared to have failed," said a Cabinet Division official on condition of anonymity, adding, "Only some ministries and divisions have updated the Cabinet Division so far."

Cabinet Division Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said the committees are working on how the ongoing disputes could be settled outside of court.

"The offices will be asked again to submit the update. Hopefully, there will be positive outputs soon," added the secretary.

Law Minister Anisul Huq said the intragovernmental lawsuits are a major obstacle to the government's development projects. He said the ministries already held several meetings in this regard.

"The law ministry has requested the chief justice and the lower courts to expedite the disposal of these cases," Anisul Huq added.

In a fix

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin said his office works on cases that are related to the government's interest.

"But we are in a fix when both the plaintiffs and defendants belong to the same team. In such cases, my office either refrains from the hearing or requests the court to give a reasonable order."

The attorney general said the committees formed by the Cabinet Division should act promptly for speedy resolution of such disputes as settlements of the cases are possible outside the court.