The Judicial Council (JC) on Wednesday transferred 197 judges of various districts. The transferred judges also include those from Province 2.

The JC’s move comes just a week ahead of the third phase of local level elections slated for September 18.

The JC has recommended 77 judges to be appointed as election officers for the provincial and parliamentary elections while it has recommended the names of 10 additional judges to keep in the alternative list.

Earlier, the main opposition CPN-UML had urged the JC to not transfer the judges ahead of elections saying that it would be in violation of the election code of conduct.

The party had also sent a letter to the Election Commission to not approve the transfer.

“We have urged the JC to not transfer the judges, but to no avail,” said UML Parliamentary Party Deputy leader Subash Nembang, adding, “This is the extreme misuse of power.”