Discord over judges’ service rules removed, law minister says after meeting top judges

After meeting the Appellate Division judges, Law Minister Anisul Huq has said the discord over the service rules for lower court judges have ended.

The law minister made the comment while speaking to the media after the around two-hour meeting at Acting Chief Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah’s resident at the Judges’ Complex in Dhaka’s Kakrail on Thursday.

“There were some differences of opinion over the service rules for the lower court judges. I am very much happy to tell you that we have removed those differences. We have reached a consensus on the service rules,” he said around 10pm.    

He also said the government will now send the draft rules to President Md Abdul Hamid and publish a gazette clarifying the service rules for lower court judges after getting his green light.

“I hope it will be possible to publish the gazette before the next hearing of the case on Dec 3,” the law minister said.  

The law minister submitted the draft rules to the Supreme Court by the end of July after a long tug-of-war between the judiciary and the executive.

Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, who has recently resigned as chief justice, rejected the draft on July 30, expressing ire over some words and provisions.

He called in the law minister, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, and legal experts in an attempt to clear the disagreements.

Justice Sinha also expressed anger on Aug 20 as the law minister did not join the discussion.

As the tension simmered amid the intense criticism of Justice Sinha over the 16th amendment verdict scrapping parliament’s power to sack top court judges, he went abroad on leave in early October.

After he took leave, the Appellate Division heard the case on Oct 8. It extended the time for publishing the gazette to Nov 5.

The government received another extension until Dec 3 after the hearing on Nov 5.