National
Row over justices appointment ends
With the Supreme Court dropping a writ petition filed by two advocates demanding a certiorari order against the appointment of 11 apex court justices one-and-a-half years ago, the row has ended.With the Supreme Court dropping a writ petition filed by two advocates demanding a certiorari order against the appointment of 11 apex court justices one-and-a-half years ago, the row has ended.
Then acting chief registrar had refused to register the writ petition on September 18. But the petitioners filed another application against the decision of the registrar on October 6.
A single bench of Justice Om Prakash Mishra on Sunday ruled that the action of the acting chief registrar was not incorrect and therefore need not be annulled.
In the petition, Advocates Ganesh Prasad Pande and Shrawan Kumar Shrestha had demanded annulment of the Judicial Council’s decision on March 1, 2016 to recommend the 11 justices.
On March 1, 2016 the three-member council led by then chief justice Kalyan Kumar Shrestha had recommended 11 justices for the apex court but the list was returned by Speaker Onasari Gharti on March 6 citing the absence of the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee.
Two Judicial Council positions were vacant after the incumbent prime minister and the Nepal Bar Association failed to recommend the members. The Speaker had argued that the recommendations were erroneous because they were made by a council that lacked its quorum.
Arguing that the Speaker’s decision had affected service seekers as the appointment of the 11 justices was blocked, Advocate Jyoti Baniya had moved the court. A single bench of Justice Jagadish Sharma Poudel then ordered the Speaker not to implement her decision, besides ruling that the three-member council was sufficient for recommendation.
The justices were appointed after five months of recommendation when the parliamentary hearing committee was formed.