The hearing on the three members recommended by the KP Sharma Oli government to the National Assembly will be conducted in the Supreme Court (SC) on Sunday. A joint bench of Justices Hari Krishna Karki and Prakash Singh Raut will hear the case.
A single bench of Justice Raut on February 25 hearing a writ petition filed two days earlier by the three persons recommended by the Sher Bahadur Deuba government had issued an interim order in the name of parliament secretariat, Prime Minister (PM) Oli and the President's Office to stop swearing-in of the trio. The swearing-in of three members is scheduled for March 4.
"As the honorable President cannot reject the recommendation of the then government without any constitutional ground don't administer oath of office to Yuba Raj Khatiwada, Ram Narayan Bidari and Bimala Paudel until their fate is decided as their nomination does not seem in line with constitutional provision," the interim order read.
The SC summoned both the sides for hearing to decide whether to give continuity to the interim order or not. The caretaker Sher Bahadur Deuba government had recommended Gopal Basnet, Krishna Prasad Paudel and Chandani Joshi for National Assembly on February 11 but the President’s Office sat on the recommendation stating that the government made the recommendation unilaterally without consulting with parties.
The Oli government then withdrew the names and recommended the names of former Nepal Rastra Bank governor Yuba Raj Khatiwada, Ram Narayan Bidari and Bimala Paudel instead. The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has accused President Bidhya Devi Bhandari of partisanship in nomination of three National Assembly members.
The three recommended by the Deuba government in their petition argued that the President does not have the rights to wait for the recommendation of a government she prefers. "The President does not have the rights to immediately implement the recommendation made by the government she likes, and abort the recommendation made by the government she does not like by sitting on that," the petition stated.
