Rules for Judges: Govt to seek more time for gazette notification

The government is likely to seek more time from the Supreme Court for issuing a gazette notification on the rules determining the discipline and code of conduct of lower court judges.

The apex court had earlier given the government such extensions 22 times for issuing the notification in the wake of appeals on different occasions.

A six-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha is set to hold hearing on this issue tomorrow.

“I have to seek time from the Supreme Court until a gazette notification is not issued on the rules [determining the discipline and code of conduct of lower court judges],” Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star.

He said he would seek two weeks' time tomorrow, as the gazette notification was not issued.

Law Minister Anisul Huq told The Daily Star the chief justice is likely to consider the issue, as the draft of the rules has been submitted to him.

The minister, however, refused to say if the chief justice had made any comments on the draft.

“I will be informed once the chief justice approves the rules,” he said.

The minister on Thursday met the CJ at his SC office and submitted the draft to him.

After submitting the draft, Anisul told this correspondent that if the CJ consented to the rules after scrutiny, it (rules) would be sent to the president for approval for the issuance of the gazette notification.

During hearing the Masdar Hossain case, popularly known as the judiciary separation case, the SC on several times ordered the government to issue a gazette notification after finalising the rules.

Subsequently, it had expressed dissatisfaction with the government's failure to do so on several occasions.

The judiciary was officially separated from the executive in November 2007, but the conduct rules for the lower court judges have yet to be finalised.

The government drafted the conduct rules and sent those to the SC for opinion around two years ago.

The apex court revised the draft in light of the 1999 verdict in the judiciary separation case and asked the government to issue a gazette notification after finalising the rules.