The Supreme Court has annulled the government’s appointment of Maheswor Bhakta Shrestha as chairman of the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), ruling that the appointment violated the prescribed age criteria.
Under the Criteria for the Appointment and Nomination of Office-bearers and Members of Public Bodies, 2016, a candidate for chairman of the corporation must be at least 30 years old and must not have exceeded 65. For office-bearers, the minimum age is 35.
However, the Cabinet appointed the 80-year-old Shrestha as NAC chairman during its meeting on July 14, flouting the age criteria.
Responding to a writ petition filed against Shrestha’s appointment, a bench of Justices Sunil Kumar Pokharel and Bal Krishna Dhakal annulled the appointment on Thursday.
"Since Maheswor Bhakta Shrestha was already 80 years old at the time of his appointment, the decision made by the Cabinet on July 14 appears prima facie flawed," the Supreme Court's order stated.
The court said that Shrestha’s appointment was against the law.
"Contrary to the aforementioned provisions, the decision made by the Council of Ministers of the Government of Nepal on July 14 to appoint Maheswor Bhakta Shrestha as the corporation’s executive chairman, along with the functions and duties of general manager, does not appear to be in accordance with the law. Therefore, the decision has been annulled via a writ of certiorari," said the court.
Upendra Bahadur Karki, a member of the corporation’s board, had filed the petition on July 16, naming the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers among five defendants.
Karki had sought a mandamus annulling Shrestha’s appointment and directing the government to appoint him instead. The Supreme Court, however, dismissed his petition without issuing a mandamus in his favor.
The court said that since the law clearly gives the Cabinet the authority to make the appointment, ordering the government to appoint Karki would be contrary to judicial restraint.
The Ministry of Tourism had previously declined to appoint Karki even to the corporation’s board, despite him ranking first based on qualifications. He had also approached the Supreme Court against that decision.
At the time, the ministry bypassed Karki and appointed Dipak Prasad Bastola, Prabin Bhattarai, Maheswor Bhakta Shrestha, Rupa Lamichhane, and Lila Raj Dhakal to the board.
A bench of Justices Tek Prasad Dhungana and Shanti Singh Thapa annulled those appointments and issued a mandamus for a fresh appointment process.
The Supreme Court said that there appeared to be no stated basis or reason for excluding Karki, and annulled the appointments on the grounds that the ministry had engaged in “pick and choose” without justification.
Following the court’s order, the ministry appointed Karki and Bhim Chand to the corporation’s board as members. However, when appointing the chairman, it selected the 80-year-old Shrestha for the role, despite the age limit.
