Judges' service rules: Government gets two more weeks to issue gazette

The government has managed to extend the deadline for services rules for lower court judges once again.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 27 Feb 2017, 06:29 AM
Updated : 27 Feb 2017, 06:29 AM

The Supreme Court on Monday granted two more weeks to issue the gazette notification on the matter.

The move, by the eight-member appeals bench led by the chief justice, came after Attorney General Mahbubey Alam pleaded for more time.

The Appellate Division has fixed Mar 14 for the next hearing.

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha told the attorney general, "We hope the government will publish the gazette within deadline. Do cooperate with us."

Earlier on Feb 5, the court extended the deadline by a week after the country's chief legal officer Alam petitioned to the court.

On Jan 15, the apex court had ordered the government to issue the gazette by Feb 5.

On Dec 8 last year, the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division had summoned two secretaries of the law ministry over the repeated failure of the government to issue a gazette notification after amending separate conduct rules and disciplinary rules for judicial officers in keeping with the verdict of the Masdar Hossain case, which delivered the historic verdict separating the judiciary from the executive.

On Dec 11, a notice posted on the law ministry’s website said the president had instructed the ministry not to issue the gazette, claiming it was unnecessary.

When Secretary Sheikh Md Zahrul Hoque of the Law and Justice Division and Secretary Md Shahidul Haque of the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division appeared before the court the next day, they were told by the chief justice that “the president was misinformed” about the gazette.

The Appeals Division then gave Attorney General Mahbubey Alam a deadline to publish the gazette by Jan 15.

Masdar Hossain case

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Dec 2, 1999 delivered a historic verdict separating the judiciary from the executive in a case filed by a judge, Masdar Hossain.

It dissolved the judicial cadre of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) on the grounds that it was incompatible with the Constitution and declared the judicial services independent.

The apex court also issued a set of directives to the government for bringing about a separation of the judiciary from the executive.

Following the verdict, the judiciary was separated from the executive branch on Nov 1, 2007.

As part of the separation, the government submitted a draft of the rules relating to the services of judges of subordinate courts.

The Appellate Division, however, declared it contradictory to the Masdar Hossain case verdict on Aug 28 this year because the draft appeared similar to the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1985.

The Supreme Court then amended the draft and sent it back to the law ministry, asking it to finalise and submit it as a report on Nov 6.

With Attorney General Mahbubey Alam failing to submit any progress report on that day, the Appellate Division ordered the State to inform it about the steps taken to finalise the rules and submit them, fixing Nov 7 to issue the order.

The Supreme Court then extended the time for the government to issue the gazette several times until Dec 8.