Rules for judges will uphold apex court’s power: SC

The disciplinary rules formulated for lower court judges will uphold the supremacy of the Supreme Court, the apex court said today after accepting the state-drawn guidelines.

A five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, performing duties of the chief justice, accepted the rules during hearing of the Masdar Hossain case, popularly known as judiciary separation case.

The law ministry as per the SC direction on December 11 issued the gazette notification on the rules for the lower court judges, keeping the authority over their conduct.

Later, the law ministry submitted the gazette to the apex court.

The president will make necessary decisions in consultation with the Supreme Court, and the law ministry will implement those, a high official of the ministry said interpreting the contents of the 24-page notification titled “Bangladesh Judicial Service (Discipline) Rules 2017”.

The president will appoint an investigation officer (IO) or form a three-member committee to conduct probe into any allegation brought against a lower court judge under the disciplinary rules.

The lower courts have been made subordinate to the executive by three "cardinal" rules, Dr Kamal Hossain and five other leading jurists of the country said on Monday.

The protection of the independence of the judiciary has been undermined and the separation of power has been violated by the rules, they said in a joint statement, without naming the rules.

The other five jurists are Rafique-ul Huq, M Amir-Ul Islam, Mainul Hosein, Fida M Kamal and AF Hasan Ariff. The statement was issued on the occasion of Supreme Court Day on December 2 (Tuesday).