Two of the three experts invited by a House committee to solicit advice on an impeachment motion against Lokman Singh Karki, who lost his job as the chief of the constitutional anti-graft agency following a Supreme Court ruling on January 8, on Tuesday expressed their inability to offer any suggestion on the matter.

Attorney General Raman Kumar Shrestha, who was also invited by the Impeachment Recommen-dation Committee (IRC) of Parliament, did not attend the meeting on Tuesday and is likely to meet IRC members on Wednesday. 

The 11-member parliamentary committee on Monday decided to seek expert advice on impeachment motion against Karki after lawmakers from the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML appeared sharply divided over the matter.

While Congress lawmakers are of the view that there is no need to move the impeachment motion forward as the apex court has already annulled Karki’s appointment as the chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), UML lawmakers are insisting that Karki needs to be impeached by Parliament, saying that the court stopped short of disqualifying him from holding any government position in future.

Madhav Poudel, chairman of Nepal Law Commission, told the IRC that since he was a member of the then Council of Ministers headed by Khil Raj Regmi that appointed Karki on May 8, 2013 as the CIAA chief, it would not be appropriate for him to express any opinion on a motion that seeks to impeach Karki.

Similarly, Tek Prasad Dhungana, secretary at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, also expressed his inability to comment on the matter, saying he now has been recommended as a High Court judge.

Dhungana is one of the 80 persons who were recommended as High Court judges by the Judicial Council on Thursday night.

“As the two of the three experts we had invited to advise us expressed their inability to speak on the matter, we cannot take a decision on the matter now,” Aman Lal Modi, a member in the IRC from the CPN (Maoist Centre), told the Post.

According to Modi, the IRC has requested AG Shrestha to attend the IRC’s meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

When asked why he refused to attend the IRC meeting, Shrestha cited Article 158 of the Constitution of Nepal, saying the attorney general’s job is advising government bodies. IRC member Modi, however, expressed hope that Shrestha would attend Wednesday’s meeting.

The IRC was formed on October 19—the same day 157 lawmakers from the Maoist Centre and UML registered an impeachment motion against Karki at the Parliament Secretariat.

The motion, which entered the House on October 25, was sent to the IRC on January 8—interestingly the same day when the apex court in a landmark ruling annulled Karki’s appointment as the CIAA chief and declared him unfit for holding the post.

Their takes

‘AG COUNSELs GOVT’

• Attorney General Raman Kumar Shrestha did not attend the IRC meeting, saying, his job, as per the constitutional provision, is advising government bodies

‘Can’t say’

• Madhav Poudel, chairman of Nepal Law Commission, told the Impeachment Recommendation Committee that since he was a member of the then Council of Ministers that appointed Karki as CIAA chief, it would not be appropriate for him to express opinion on a motion that seeks to impeach Karki 
• Tek Prasad Dhungana, secretary at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, expressed his inability to comment on the matter, saying he now has been recommended as a High Court judge