Acting chief justice Abdul Wahhab Miah has expressed an interest to sit with the government over issuance of the gazette notification on rules determining discipline and conduct of judges running trial courts.
During a hearing on Sunday, the acting CJ told the attorney general: “... It is imperative that we discuss the matter [issuance of the gazette notification], as the conduct rules for judges should be published as soon as possible.”
A five-member Appellate Division bench headed by the acting chief justice also granted the government until November 5 to publish the gazette, following a time petition filed by the state.
Earlier on August 20, a six-member Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha extended the deadline for issuing the gazette notification until October 8.
The Appellate Division hinted that it wanted to hold a discussion with the government over the issue at that time. However, no discussions were held.
On December 2, 1999, the Supreme Court in the Masdar Hossain case issued a seven-point directive, including formulating separate disciplinary rules, for the lower court judges.
The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs sent a draft of the rules to the Supreme Court which is similar to the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1985, on May 7, 2015.
Since then, the Appellate Division extended the deadline for publishing the gazette on lower court judges’ conduct rules several times, but the government has yet to issue it.
Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, who is currently on a leave of absence citing health complications, also wanted to hold a discussion with the government on the issue.
This article was first published on Bangla Tribune
