The Supreme Court (SC) Bar Association has decided to ask the bar's representative in the Judicial Council about the grounds and reasons for recommendations and appointments of judges to the SC and the High Court (HC) respectively.
A meeting of the SC unit of the umbrella organization of the advocates in the country and its advisory committee on Monday has taken the decision to that regard. Ram Sitaula is the bar's representative to the council.
Secretary at the SC Bar Association Subhan Acharya said the meeting decided to ask Sitaula about the grounds and reasons for recommendations and appointments of 23 judges. Advisors including senior advocates Krishna Prasad Bhandari, Shambhu Thapa and Mahadev Yadav opined that the bar's representative should be held accountable and asked why such decisions were made in his presence.
Acharya said the SC Bar Association will urge the Nepal Bar Association to seek answers from Sitaula about the recommendations and appointments.
The Judicial Council on April 2 had recommended five justices for the SC and 18 for HC. Chief Justice of Patan High Court Prakash Dhungana and that of Surkhet High Court Sushma Lata Mathema, and senior advocate Kumar Regmi, and advocates Hari Phuyal and Manoj Kumar Sharma were recommended for SC.
Regmi is considered close to the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) and Phuyal close to the ruling CPN while Sharma is the nephew of former CJ Damodar Sharma.
The recommendations and appointments of some have been widely criticized. The issue was raised even during the conference of judges that started a day after the appointments.
