The Supreme Court on Friday issued an interim order directing the Legislature-Parliament to put on hold the impeachment motion filed against Chief Justice (CJ) Sushila Karki and allow the latter to return to work from today itself.

Responding to a writ petition against the motion to impeach CJ Karki, a single bench of Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR issued the order stating that the impeachment move was against the spirit of Nepal’s Constitution. 

Karki was automatically suspended from the CJ post after the lawmakers from the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre) registered an impeachment motion against the judicial head on April 30. 

Advocates Kanchan Krishna Neupane and Sunil Ranjan Singha had moved the apex court a day after the impeachment motion was registered at the Parliament Secretariat. 

The bench said the accusations made against Karki in the impeachment motion that the verdict issued by Karki on the case pertaining to promotion of Nepal Police Inspector General was against the standard legal practice were baseless. 

“Though it appears, other charges have been leveled against Karki based on the promotion of Nepal Police Inspector General, it is clear that the impeachment motion is void,” read the court verdict. 

 Advocate Kanchan Krishna Neupane hailed the court verdict and said “the order reflected the overall spirit of the entire judiciary.”  “The verdict has put a stop to the activities that would drag the judiciary into controversy. “The verdict aims to save the independence of judiciary,” said Neupane, talking to Kantipur TV after the interim order. 

The petition has claimed that the impeachment move contravenes Article 105 of the constitution, which says: No discussion shall be held in either House of the Federal Parliament on any matters that may cause adverse effect on the dispensation of justice on any cases which are sub judice in any courts of Nepal and on any judicial acts done by judges in the course of performance of their duties