Rules for lower court judges: SC extends time for gazette
The Supreme Court today directed the government to publish by February 5 a gazette notification on the rules determining discipline and conduct of lower court judges.
A seven-member bench of Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order following a petition moved by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam seeking four weeks’ time for the issuance of the gazette notification.
The lower judiciary was officially separated in November 2007 but the disciplinary rules for lower court judges are yet to be finalised.
The government had drafted the rules and sent those to the SC for its opinion. The court revised the draft rules in the light of the 1999 verdict in the separation of the judiciary case.
On December 12 last year, the apex court asked the law ministry to issue a gazette notification on the rules by today (January 15), adjourning the hearing on the Masdar Hossain case, also known as the separation of the judiciary case, till that date.
The court on that day observed that the president has been misinformed about issuance of the gazette notification.
The apex court came up with the directive a day after the law ministry issued a notification, which said the president decided not to issue a separate gazette notification on the conduct rules.
Officials of the ministry would not have done this if they had the minimum knowledge, it said.
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