The Nepal Bar Association (NBA) has demanded amendment of Constitution to remove the provision requiring mandatory presence of the chief justice (CJ) in the constitutional bench.
"The Nepal Bar Association draws attention of the authorities concerned to reform the constitutional provision as it has been generally felt that the provision creates serious deadlock in judicial resolution of issues involving the chief justice," the NBA said issuing a 10-point declaration through its annual general assembly and 48th central executive council meeting.
The NBA has demanded amendment in a way that all the Supreme Court (SC) benches are deemed equally competent to interpret the Constitution and laws, and added that the provision should also allow other SC justices to lead the constitutional bench.
"The Constitution states that the CJ should chair the constitutional bench but the same Constitution does not state that there is difference in competence of the CJ and other justices in delivering justice," coordinator of the committee to issue NBA declaration Khagendra Bahadur Adhikari told Setopati. "We demand that constitutional bench should not be mandatorily chaired by the CJ as other justices can also lead it. The Constitution should be amended for that."
The CJ is ex-officio member of the Constitutional Council that recommends appointments for constitutional bodies. The CJ hearing cases filed against recommendations made by the Constitutional Council also including the CJ would be against the principle of natural justice, the NBA argues, in context of the SC being moved against recent swearing-in of constitutional office-bearers.
NBA Secretary General Lila Mani Paudel said the Constitutional Council, therefore, should either not include the CJ or the provision allowing only the CJ to chair the constitutional bench should be changed.
The NBA has also expressed displeasure at the appointments at the constitutional bodies without parliamentary hearing pointing that Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli had unilaterally brought an ordinance that allowed decision by the Constitutional Council on the basis of majority to make the recommendations and then dissolved the House to ensure that parliamentary hearing is not possible.
