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Apex court works extra hours to clear 20,888 pending cases
In a bid to increase the rate of clearing a large number of pending cases, the Supreme Court has extended its working hours.In a bid to increase the rate of clearing a large number of pending cases, the Supreme Court has extended its working hours.
The decision to add an hour to the existing schedule was taken citing the pressure to reduce the case backlog.
SC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Panthee said the apex court had 20,888 pending
cases as on 3:27pm Friday. The new timing was implemented from today.
The chief justice level decision of the SC taken in line with the Supreme Court Rules-2017 could increase the efficiency of the court by an estimated 16 percent, said spokesperson Panthee. “It’s not that the new provision would increase the efficiency to a large extent right away though,” he said.
The SC will now open at 9:30am and close at 5pm from Sunday to Thursday while the closing time is 4pm for Friday. However, the justices could continue their works for
half-an-hour more after the official hours.
The apex court said in a statement that the decision came following discussions at the full court and the Office of the Attorney General, Nepal Bar Association and senior advocates at different phases.
The move was also a step towards administrative reforms as promised by Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli during the parliamentary hearing before his appointment.
The SC is also said to be working to finalise a mandatory time-frame for the justices to issue the full texts of their verdicts so that the concerned parties are not kept waiting too long.
The SC has been practising “bloc hearing” of identical cases for the last few months. The plan is set to be officially enforced from January next year.
SC app updated
KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court has updated its mobile application including the details of High Courts and special benches.
According to SC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Panthee, service seekers could even know the status of hearing on their cases through the medium besides daily and weekly cause lists.