Dhaka – The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday rejected the draft of a Gazette that clarifies the service rules for the sub-ordinate court judges, submitted by Law Minister Anisul Huq.Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha expressed his displeasure with the draft, saying that none of the recommendations of the court had been included in the draft of the gazette.
He remarked, “The law minister has made a complete U-turn following our meeting,”.
The Appellate Division had given the government time until July 30 to issue the gazette following a petition submitted by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam. The matter was raised before the six-member bench of Appellate Division led by Chief Justice SK Sinha on Sunday.
Later, the Justice and other judges have proposed to sit with the representatives of the states from 2 pm to midnight every day until Thursday to finalise the draft. “Let us sit and discuss. No more delays,” Justice Sinha said at last. The court then adjourned the matter until next Sunday.
The government submitted a draft of the rules for the sub-ordinate court judges last year to separate the judiciary from the executive. The separation followed a historic Appellate verdict over a case filed by Judge Masdar Hossain. It declared the judicial services independent, dissolving the judicial cadre of Bangladesh Civil Service on the grounds that it was incompatible with the constitution.
However, the draft of rules submitted by the government last year were declared incompatible with the Masdar Hossain case verdict because it 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. – Special Correspondent
According to another report, Law Minister Anisul Huq has said that there was scope to amend the draft discipline and conduct rules.
