Expressing its disappointment, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday said that it is painful when the government refers to the president for all issues. “We feel hurt when the government refers to the president for issuing the gazette notification on the discipline and conduct rules for the lower court judges,” a seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha observed when Attorney General Mahbubey Alam moved a plea before it seeking more time for issuing the gazette notification.
However, the apex court granted time for the government till May 8 for issuing the gazette notification and said that it would not consider further time pleas from the authorities concerned. Earlier, in the morning, the chief law officer of the state told the court that the conduct rules of lower court judges were pending with the president. The government will issue the gazette notification after getting the president’s approval.
Hence, the government needs more time to issue the notification, the attorney general said.
Later, the court adjourned the hearing on the Masdar Hossain case, known as judiciary separation case, till May 8.
The apex court also asked the attorney general not to refer the president regarding this issue. Earlier, on March 28, the SC extended time for the government by one week to issue the gazette notification.
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 last 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.