Court Correspondent :
Law Minister Anisul Huq met Chief Justice Surendra Kuman Sinha in connection with issuing a gazette notification on the disciplinary and conduct rules for the sub-ordinate court judges.
The meeting was held at the Chief Justice’s Supreme Court office yesterday afternoon. Later, Anisul Huq told reporters on the apex court premises that there was a significant progress in the meeting to finalise the rules and issuing the gazette notification. The government is trying to issue the notification very soon, he said. He expressed hope that it might be done next week.
Earlier on July 16, the Law Minister met the Chief Justice to discuss the disciplinary and conduct rules. Anisul Huq then said the government will finalise the rules determining the discipline and code of conduct for the sub-ordinate court judges by next week and hoped that a gazette notification on the rules will be issued by the end of the next week.
On July 17, the apex court gave one week time to the government for issuing the gazette notification. Earlier on July 2, the seven-member bench of the Appellate Division gave the government a two-week ultimatum for issuing the gazette.
“It’s the last chance,” said Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, who was heading the apex court bench, while hearing in the judiciary separation case, also known as Masdar Hossain Case.
The apex court on several occasions had earlier expressed annoyance and dissatisfaction at the government’s failure to publish the notification in line with its orders.
The judiciary was officially separated from the executive in November 2007, but the conduct rules for the sub-ordinate court judges is yet to be finalised.
The government drafted the conduct rules and sent those to the Supreme Court for its opinion about two years ago. The apex court revised the draft in the light of the 1999 verdict in the separation of judiciary case.
