Currently, appellate courts in Janakpur, Biratnagar, Hetauda, Pokhara, Baglung, Butwal, Tulsipur, Nepalgunj and Dipayal are being run by deputy chief judges.

The Janakpur Appellate Court remains without its head after Chief Judge Dutga Upreti retired on February 19. Likewise, Madhav Chalise, Hari Prasad Ghimire, Lokendra Mallik, Keshav Mainali and Jageshwor Subedi, chief judges of the appellate courts in Pokhara, Baglung, Tulsipur, Nepalgunj and Butwal respectively, have also retired from their job. Meanwhile, the appellate courts in Hetauda and Dipayal are also without chiefs after their Chief Judges Baidya Nath Upadhyay and Dipak Raj Joshi were to Supreme Court and to Surkhet respectively.

According to senior officials at the Judicial Council (JC), a body mandated to deal with the transfer of judges, the delay in appointment of justices at the Supreme Court and a possible revision to the criteria for appointing chief judges are among the reasons hampering appointments in the vacant posts.

“There had been an understanding to fulfil the vacant posts in the Supreme Court and then proceed with the appointment in appellate courts. But the process in the apex court itself got delayed as senior Justice Ram Kumar Shah was taken il”,” an official at the JC said. Justice Shah, also a JC member, had to undergo treatment while attending a programme in Bangkok last year.

As per the existing provisions, there needs to be a public notice put up for fulfilling vacant posts of chief judges. The JC is planning to change the provision and short-list possible candidates. However, the appointment of chief judges may be delayed again as the JC members maintain that they would first like to see appointments at the apex court. This in turn could take time, with the candidates of justices at Supreme Court having to undergo parliamentary hearing.

The absence of chief judges is likely to hamper both justice delivery and judicial administration of the appellate courts“ “Sensitive cases in the appellate courts may be shelved in the absence of chief judges. The chief judges are also responsible for mobilising resources under their jurisdiction and checking malpractices,” said Sunil Pokharel, general secretary of the Nepal Bar Association.