Dhaka: The Supreme Court on Sunday extended time till 5 February to the government to publish a gazette notification on the disciplinary and conduct rules for lower court judges.

A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice S K Sinha passed the order following a petition filed by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam seeking four weeks’ time for issuing the gazette notification.

Earlier on 12 December, the Supreme Court ordered the authorities concerned to issue a gazette notification on the disciplinary and conduct rules for lower court judges by 15 January.

On 8 December, the Supreme Court summoned law and justice division secretary Abu Saleh Sk Md Zahirul Haque and legislative and parliamentary affairs division secretary Mohammad Shahidul Haque of the Law Ministry to appear before it on 12 December to explain the failure to publish notification in this regard.

On 24 November, the Supreme Court gave the government one week to publish a gazette notification on the disciplinary rules for the judicial officers.

The lower judiciary was officially separated in November 2007 but the disciplinary rules for lower court judges are yet to be formulated.

On 2 December, 1999, the Supreme Court in the Masdar Hossain case issued a seven-point directive, including formulating separate disciplinary rules for the lower court judges.

On 7 May, 2015 , the Law Ministry sent the draft of the rules to the Supreme Court which is similar to the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1985.