The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday has summoned CPN Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal to provide written response in the contempt of court case.
A bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma hearing the case filed by advocate Samir Hayu over Dahal's statement in a mass rally at Biratnagar has ordered Dahal to produce himself before the court within seven days excluding time for conveyance.
Dahal had said that the Dahal-Nepal faction of CPN has remained patient believing that the SC will give the right verdict in the case against House dissolution while addressing the rally in Biratnagar on Friday. "We have waited patiently with confidence that the SC will do in accordance to the spirit of the Constitution, democracy, and the feeling and necessity of the country's people," Dahal had stated.
"If the needs arise, I say this in Biratnagar today. The country can listen, we will convene House meeting if the need arises and punish these criminals. The Constitution has granted the rights to us to convene the House meeting. It has not granted authority to KP Oli to dissolve the House."
"Using the rights granted by the Constitution, speaker can convene the House meeting to correct the unconstitutional and undemocratic step of KP Oli. We can attend the meeting and go as far as punishing Oli. But what I say is we are confident that the SC will give the right verdict. The meeting has not been convened as we are confident that the SC will give the right verdict. The Nepali people have that option if necessary."
Hayu has filed the contempt of court case against Dahal for speaking on the case that is currently being heard by the constitutional bench of SC.
The SC has already 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 Jutstice Manoj Kumar Sharma hearing different contempt of court cases against the six on Thursday 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.
They have been given seven days, excluding the time 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 had 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.
