Lower court judges conduct: Govt gazette by Dec 3, says law minister

Law Minister Anisul Huq tonight said the problem regarding issuance of a gazette notification on the rules determining the discipline of lower court judges has been solved.

The gazette notification might be issued by December 3, the date scheduled for next hearing of the Supreme Court on Masdar Hossain case, known as judiciary separation case, he said while talking to The Daily Star after a meeting with the apex court judges.

The meeting was held at the residence of Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, performing the functions of the chief justice, in capital’s Kakrail area where four other apex court judges -- Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, Justice Muhammad Imman Ali, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and Justice Mirza Hussain Haider attended.

Acting Registrar General of the SC Md Zakir Hossain and joint secretary to the law ministry Bikash Kumar Saha, among others, were present there. 

“We have resolved the issues that had created the problem. Now the draft (of the rules) will be sent to the president for his approval. Once the president approves the draft, it will be published in the Bangladesh gazette,” the law minister said adding that, “No issues other than the disciplinary rules [for lower court judges] were discussed at the meeting”.

Replying to a question, Anisul Huq said he does not know who will be appointed the new chief justice and when the appointment of the new chief justice will be appointed, as the president has is the sole authority to take the decision on this issue.

There is no vacuum of the post of the chief justice now, as Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, the senior most judge of the Appellate Division of the SC, has been carrying out the functions of the chief justice under article 97 of the constitution.   

Article 97 sates, “If the office of the chief justice becomes vacant, or if the president is satisfied that the chief justice is, on account of absence, illness, or any other cause, unable to perform the functions of his office, those functions shall, until some other person has entered upon that office, or until the chief justice has resumed his duties, as the case may be, be performed by the next most senior Judge of the Appellate Division.”

On November 5, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told reporters that Law Minister Anisul Huq may sit with the judges of the Appellate Division to resolve the issue of disciplinary rules for lower court judges.

[The then] Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha wanted to see that the rules curb the power of the president, said the AG. The government, therefore, is trying to resolve the issue through discussions with the SC and the law ministry, he added.

While presiding over the Appellate Division bench, Justice Sinha had expressed annoyance and dissatisfaction several times at the government's failure to issue a gazette notification on the rules determining the discipline of lower court judges.