Bangabhaban, Gono Bhaban, SC seem lakhs of km apart

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha. File photo

The Supreme Court yesterday criticised the government for seeking more time to issue a gazette notification on the rules determining the code of conduct for lower court judges.

The SC, the Gono Bhaban, and the Bangabhaban seem lakhs of kilometres apart, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha said, referring to around two and a half years' delay in publishing the notification.

The chief justice was presiding over a five-member SC bench (of the Appellate Division) for hearing the Masdar

Hossain case, known as the judiciary separation case.

Earlier in the day, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, on behalf of the government, submitted an application to the apex court for adjourning the hearing in the case for two weeks.

Getting the plea, the chief justice expressed astonishment, as the court had already extended the time for the gazette publication on several occasions.

Annoyed, the court said, “two weeks, two months, and two years are all the same for the attorney general”.

The AG didn't say anything in reply.

The SC ended yesterday's proceedings, adjourning the hearing for one week.

The apex court on several previous occasions expressed dissatisfaction at the government's failure to issue the gazette notification.

The judiciary was officially separated from the executive in November 2007 but the code of conduct for lower court judges is yet to be finalised.

The government drafted the code and sent it to the SC more than two years back for its opinion. The court revised the draft in light of the 1999 verdict in the separation of judiciary case.

On May 5, Law Minister Anisul Huq told The Daily Star, “We will of course issue a gazette notification on the rules. But we may seek 10 to 15 days from the Supreme Court as we need the honourable president's approval in this regard.”

Supreme Court Bar Association President Zainul Abedin, also a BNP leader, told a press conference on May 2 that the apex court gave many orders on the issuance of the notification, but the government already sought 67 extensions. “Taking time proves that the government doesn't want the judiciary to work independently,” he said.