Govt gets time till Dec 3 for gazette on judges’ discipline

The Supreme Court today extended time until December 3 for issuing a gazette notification on the disciplinary rules for lower court judges.

The apex court adjourned till December 3 the hearing on the Masdar Hossain case, known as judiciary separation case, with which the issuance of a gazette notification on the disciplinary rules for lower court judges was linked.

The five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah who is discharging the responsibility of the chief justice, passed the order following a time petition moved by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam.

In the petition, the attorney general prayed to the apex court seeking four-week time for settling the issues.

The SC has so far given the government time for issuing the gazette notification for 26 times in more than two years.

The lower judiciary was officially separated in November 2007 but the disciplinary rules for lower court judges are yet to be finalised. The government had drafted the rules and sent those to the SC for its opinion. The court revised the draft rules in the light of the 1999 verdict in the separation of the judiciary case.