Expressing dissatisfaction over repeated time petitions, the Supreme Court yesterday gave the government one week more to issue the gazette notification outlining disciplinary rules and the code of conduct for lower court judges. A six-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, also wanted to know from the attorney general why they (govt) were repeatedly using the name of the President for seeking time. “Why you (attorney general) are repeatedly talking about the President? … It’s a parliamentary form of government. Do you want to leave the judiciary in such a state using the name of the President?” the chief justice said in response to a four-week time plea by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam. So far, the state has made 14 time petitions to issue a gazette notification on the disciplinary and conduct rules for lower court judges.
The attorney general yesterday told the court that the president would take necessary steps by four weeks over the issuance of a gazette notification on the disciplinary and conduct rules for the lower court judges. Hence, the government needs four weeks to issue the gazette notification, he added. At this stage, the apex court expressed its frustration for the repeated time petitions, but allowed the government another one week to issue the gazette notification.
At a programme in the capital yesterday, Law Minister Anisul Huq told journalists that the services rule for lower court judge was with the president and the gazette notification would be published after receiving his approval.
Asked about the frustration of the apex court over the repeated time petitions by the government, the minister said, “The president wanted to see the rules and currently has them. He will send it to us the moment he is finished going through it and then we will take the other necessary steps.” Even, the historic Masdar Hossain case, popularly known as the case of separation of the judiciary from the executive, has come up in the daily “cause list” of the Supreme Court (SC) 66 times. But the important issue has not been disposed of as the government has not issued the gazette notification on disciplinary and conduct rules for lower court judges.
The adjournment orders started from May 31, 2012 and since then the apex court has so far passed adjournment orders for 66 times, according to the cause list report of the apex court.
The December 2, 1999 verdict by the Appellate Division in the historic State vs Masdar Hossain case mandated the drafting of a 12-point set of guidelines on the separation of the judiciary from the executive.
Finally, the judiciary was officially separated in November 2007, but the disciplinary rules for lower court judges are yet to be finalised. For several years, the SC issued multiple rulings, asking the government to issue a gazette notification on the finalised rules.
The government had drafted the rules and sent those to the apex court for its opinion on May 7, 2015. On August 28 this year, the Appellate Division declared the government’s draft rules to be in contradiction with the verdict in the Masdar Hossain case because the draft was similar to the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1985. After revising the rules drafted, the SC sent those to the law ministry and asked the government to issue the gazette notification by November 6. But the government repeatedly sought time without issuing the gazette notification.