Nearly 95 percent of drug cases are stuck: 403,908 cases await trial

An unprecedented backlog of drug cases has built up in Bangladesh's trial courts. According to data collected from the Supreme Court, the judicial courts held 426,110 drug cases in the set quarterly period, of which only 16,200 were disposed of — just 3.80 percent. As many as 403,908 cases are now awaiting final trial, about 94.79 percent of the total, or nearly 95 percent.

The statistics say 406,147 of those cases were carried over from the previous period. Another 1,176 cases were newly filed and 18,787 came from other sources, while 6,002 cases were transferred elsewhere for judicial needs.

The backlog is worst in Dhaka and Chattogram divisions. In Dhaka division, 112,557 of 120,226 cases are under trial and only 5,200 were disposed of. In Chattogram division, 96,570 of 99,114 cases remain unresolved, with just 2,331 disposed of.

Rajshahi division has 87,639 pending cases, Khulna 45,801 and Rangpur 43,099. The lowest pressure is in Sylhet division, where 9,861 of 10,461 cases are under trial.

As a single judicial area, Dhaka Tribunal has the most: 40,431 of its 43,762 cases are unresolved. In Chattogram Tribunal, 39,690 of 40,678 cases are stuck, and in Rajshahi Tribunal 26,059 of 26,773. Narayanganj has 19,127 stuck cases, Cox's Bazar 17,512 and Bogura 14,895.

The delay picture is more alarming still: 85,911 drug cases nationwide have seen no disposal for more than five years, about 20.15 percent of all cases. Chattogram division has 29,130 such cases; Dhaka Tribunal has 19,523, Cox's Bazar 12,744 and Chattogram Tribunal 10,026 cases older than five years.

Trials of another 206 drug cases in the lower courts are temporarily halted because of High Court stay orders — 89 in Dhaka division, 32 in Rangpur and 11 each in Mymensingh and Sylhet; Dhaka Tribunal alone has 73 stayed cases.

Alongside the backlog, the report raises allegations of easy bail. On 18 August 2025, acting on foreign intelligence, the Department of Narcotics Control arrested Tariqul Islam (37), accused of belonging to an international drug smuggling ring, from Madani Avenue in Gulshan. Information from him led to the recovery of about 150,000 tramadol tablets from the fourth floor of the Baitul Laz building on Green Road. Yet he was released on bail within 31 hours of his arrest.

After the matter was reported in the media on 21 August, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Zakir Hossain on 24 August cancelled the bail of Tariqul and Ujjal Mia, calling the bail order hurried, biased and unjust and saying the magistrate had granted it wrongly. Officials say Tariqul has since been arrested again in a new drug case and is now in prison.

This picture has emerged despite strict provisions in law. Under the Narcotics Control Act 2018, the maximum punishment is life imprisonment or death. Section 46 makes all drug offences cognizable and non-bailable; Section 47 says courts cannot easily grant bail unless the accused is a woman, a child or physically disabled; and Sections 48 and 51 require trials of serious offences to be completed within 90 working days.

Lawyers blame delays on shortages of judges and public prosecutors and on failures to produce witnesses. Deputy Attorney General Advocate A. M. Jamiul Haque (Faisal) said seizure-list witnesses are often passers-by who cannot later be brought to court, and that recording one witness's testimony alone takes two to three hours. Senior Supreme Court lawyer S. M. Shahjahan said witnesses do not arrive on time, the defence and prosecutors take time at charge hearings, and judges cannot frame charges at will.

Department of Narcotics Control Director General Md Hasan Maruf said ensuring convicts' punishment is essential; to that end the department has created its own prosecution unit, the government has set up tribunals, and investigators are being trained to prepare FIRs, charge sheets and seizure lists properly. But law enforcement officials complain that although more than a hundred accused are arrested daily, many get out on bail and rejoin the trade, and some disappear before the bail bond copy even arrives.