The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday reserved its verdict on the case challenging Judicial Council’s (JC) decision to recommend 80 judges of high court.

The apex court was to announce the final verdict on Thursday, but it postponed the decision for an indefinite period.

The three-judge bench of Om Prakash Mishra, Bam Kumar Shrestha and Dambar Bahadur Shahi heard the case. Since Mishra is a member of the council, the bench could not make a decision. This is because the council is also a defendant in the case.

 Acting Chief Justice Deepak Raj Joshee should now assign a new bench to take final decision. Due to the changes of justices, now there is a need for a fresh hearing on the case.

Former Chief Justice Gopal Prajuli has personal interest in the case, sources said. Due to the delay in verdict, official work of high court is severely affected.

Advocates Keshav Prasad Das, Mina Kumari Dev and Raksha Ram Harijan and Surendra Prasad had filed the case stating that judges were recommended because of their political affiliation and it could severely affect unbiased and impartial performance. 

The council made recommendations in the absence of some JC members, they said.

Court admin ordered to clarify over contempt case

The Supreme Court (SC) has directed the court administration to present a report for not registering a complaint against former chief justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli.

A single bench of Justice Hari Krishna Karki on Thursday directed the court administration to furnish a report with the reason for refusing to register the complaint of Manoj Adhikari against former CJ Parajuli. The court administration had refused to register Adhikari’s complaint citing lack of evidence.

Earlier, Adhikari had tried to register a contempt of court case against Parajuli but the SC administration refused to do so. He later registered the case in the bench. Adhikari has been trying to file a case against Parajuli saying that the former CJ’s act of issuing death threats to Senior Advocate Surendra Ahandari was contempt of court.  The hearing on the case begins after the court administration submits its report. (PR)