The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli, four former chief justices (CJ) and former speaker Daman Nath Dhungana to come to the court and furnish written response in the contempt of court cases against them.
A single bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma hearing different contempt of court cases against the six on Thursday has ordered PM Oli, former CJs Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, Anup Raj Sharma, Kalyan Shrestha and Sushila Karki, and Dhungana to appear before the court in the contempt of court cases related to their statements about the sub judice case of House dissolution, according to Assistant Spokesperson at the SC Devendra Dhakal.
They have been given seven days, excluding the time needed for transportation, to appear before the court.
Advocates Lochan Bhattarai and Dhanjit Basnet filed the contempt of court case against the former CJs on Wednesday.
The petitioners argued that the former CJs issued the statement in a way that influences the sub judice case amounting to contempt of the court.
This has come after similar cases were taken to the SC against PM Oli.
Senior advocate Kumar Sharma Acharya on Sunday had taken a contempt of court case against PM Oli. Similarly, advocate Kanchan Krishna Neupane had also submitted a contempt of court case against PM Oli for commenting on a sub judice case and using obscene and indecent language against lawyers.
The contempt of court cases have cited Oli's speech at a program in Karki Banquet in Babar Mahal on January 22. "They have apparently taken an old lawyer for the show," Oli had commented about 94-year-old senior advocate Krishna Prasad Bhandari who argued against the House dissolution during the ongoing hearing.
They have lodged the cases pointing that he called the hearing a show and called a legal professional old. "We request action for contempt and punishment as the words used by Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli and the behavior expressed by him amount to contempt of the court and the bench," the case filed by Neupane states.
A separate contempt of court case was also filed against former speaker Dhungana for speaking about the sub judice case of House dissolution.
