The government also must face trial for contempt of court for not separating the judiciary from the executive in line with the SC directives, the jurists warned.

The counsel for the plaintiff in the Masdar Hossain versus Bangladesh case, popularly known as the judiciary separation case, Barrister Amirul Islam, is going to file a revised version of the contempt accusation he had filed in 2004, increasing the number of defendants by three.

In the original contempt petition, he accused the three secretaries then posted at the ministries concerned -- Asaduzzaman of the law ministry, Safar Raj Hossain of establishment and Zakir Hossain of finance -- for violating the SC directives, Amirul told The Daily Star on Thursday.

In the revised contempt petition, the barrister said, he will add the current secretaries of the ministries as defendants, namely Law Secretary Alauddin Sardar, Establishment Secretary Mahbubur Rahman and Finance Secretary Siddiqur Rahman.

Amirul Islam said the government has shown contempt not only to the court but also to the nation and the constitution. According to him, the ruling alliance has deliberately avoided translating its electoral pledge to separate the judiciary once it comes to power. It has broken the numerous promises made to the court when praying for more time to implement the court orders.

The government, he said, also has turned its back to the promise it made to the immediate past caretaker government, which was ready to carry out the separation, to continue and complete the process.

The SC Appellate Division last Wednesday rejected for the second time a government appeal for extending the time for separating the judiciary and fixed February 22 as the date for hearing the contempt petition against the government filed by Amirul Islam. Earlier, on October 20 last year, the SC turned down the 22nd appeal for time extension.

"The court has already given a 12-point directive to separate the judiciary. So, the attorney general should be asked which specific steps of the directives are left unimplemented and why, what are the complications and who are responsible for the complications," eminent jurist Dr M Zahir told The Daily Star.

The clock is ticking, he said, eroding the already too little time now left for the government to carry out the separation before the next general elections. So, it must do it immediately.

But, even if the government separates the judiciary now, it cannot escape facing the contempt charge, Zahir noted.

He said people who are respon

sible for the unequalled foot-dragging in implementing the court order must be brought to book. Instead of acting against some small-time bureaucrats, the court should go after the top guns in the government who called the shots, he added.

Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud said the government is violating the SC order by not complying with it, though there is no stay order on it and as the government's prayer for time has been rejected twice by the SC in the last four months.

He termed the recent request for time extension farcical, as the court had already rejected the prayer on October 20.

To his view, the government's steps are aimed at degrading the court and avoiding the judiciary separation. The Appellate Division should be resolute against these moves, he said, adding if it does not take a strong stance in this case, the SC will be demeaned.

Rokanuddin also expressed doubt about the legality and validity of all the verdicts passed by the lower courts in the last four months, as there has not been any stay order on the SC directive for making the judiciary separate.

He warned the government of grim consequences if the directive remains unrealised any further.