Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Gagan Thapa has said the Supreme Court (SC) itself should regain the public trust it has lost.
Thapa has said the Apex Court itself should correct the erroneous commutation of former APF DIG Ranjan Koirala who was found guilty of murdering his wife. The case is being reviewed by the SC amidst widespread condemnation of the commutation of Koirala's life sentence.
"Each step of the court during the review process will now be under public scrutiny," Thapa has said. "The SC itself should correct the mistakes and regain the public trust it has lost due to the commutation and other recent verdicts."
He has added that the SC verdict to commute life sentence in case of a pre-meditated murder with involvement of the chief justice has made the people furious. "The trust toward the judiciary has been shaken."
He has called the government initiative for review of the verdict and the SC's permission for review positive. "It is the responsibility of the court to establish public trust toward the court. The provision of review has been kept in the Constitution to allow correction of mistakes in delivery of justice and ensure that justice is not murdered at the hands of the court," he pointed.
The full bench of Justices Bam Kumar Shrestha, Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Kumar Regmi on Sunday hearing the review petition registered by the Office of the Attorney General has said the verdict of Chief Justice (CJ) Cholendra Shumsher Rana and Justice Tej Bahadur KC has to be reviewed as Koirala pleaded not guilty in the court despite pleading guilty with the police, it cannot be deemed to be normal and chance incident due to his attempts to hide the body, and the verdict seems to be violating the Apex Court's own precedents.
Thapa has reminded that the court should not abuse its authority. "We can personally like or dislike a court verdict. The judiciary has both the status and power to take unpopular decisions at some times for the sake of justice. But such powers should not be abused. Similarly, the judiciary itself should be responsible and accountable toward the general public on the issue of justice."
He has stressed that the court's respect does not depend solely on interpretation of laws but is also related to the public trust. "When one feels justice has been killed in a verdict and public trust toward the court is lost, that does not just shake the respect toward the court but also attack on the basic spirit of democracy and justice. Those delivering justice should take this seriously," he has elaborated.
