1245 cases settled in village courts in Sylhet in 1 year, fines collected 20 lakh 81 thousand taka

S A Shofiee, Sylhet:

1245 cases have been settled in village courts in Sylhet district in the last 1 year. 1438 people in the district filed cases in the village courts. Out of these, 311 were women and 934 were men. And in 1 year, 20 lakh 81 thousand taka was collected and handed over through the village courts.

This information came up at a meeting titled Annual progress review and to-do list of village court activities at the Sylhet district level at the conference room of the Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet on Tuesday (September 2) morning.

  Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet Md. Sarwar Alam addressed the meeting as the chief guest. In his speech as the chief guest, he said that disputes are easily settled in village courts. Therefore, the common people should be encouraged to go to village courts. More publicity should be given to village courts. So that people go to village courts instead of going to courts. He said, this will save money and time. There will be peace in people’s lives. Addressing the chairmen of various union parishads in the district, he said, “You should work honestly and impartially. The district administration is by your side. I want all the works of Sylhet district to achieve excellence in the country.” He urged the chairman-members to bring Sylhet to the Super Five in birth registration services within the next three months. Similarly, he urged the chairman-members to play a leading role in eliminating crime trends in their areas.

At the beginning of the meeting, chaired by Suborna Sarkar, Deputy Director of the Local Government Department, Sylhet, the meeting was started by Shawkat Hasan, District Manager of the 3rd Phase of the Bangladesh Rural Court Activation Project, Ipsa Sylhet and Moulvibazar District, through a presentation on the plan, goals and objectives of the outreach activities under the project and the role of government and non-government organizations at the local level. Shahadat Hossain, UNDP project evaluator supporting the ‘Activation of Village Courts in Bangladesh Phase 3 Project’, addressed the meeting as a special guest.

Executive officers of various upazilas, chairmen and panel chairmen of 106 union parishads of the district were present in the meeting.