Hearing on the petition filed by CPN-UML demanding implementation of expulsion of 14 House of Representatives (HoR) members by the party will continue on Tuesday.
UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli had filed the petition demanding implementation of the expulsion making the Election Commission and Speaker Agni Sapkota defendants.
Hearing on the petition could not be completed on Monday and the joint bench of Justices Deepak Kumar Karki and Kumar Chudal will continue the hearing on Tuesday.
Chief of Oli's legal team Baburam Dahal told Setopati that lawyers of CPN (Unified Socialist) have yet to make arguments and lawyers of petitioner will also present counter arguments to the arguments made by lawyers on behalf of the defendants.
The Supreme Court (SC) is also hearing the petition against speaker of provincial assembly of Lumbini for not implementing expulsion of two UML provincial lawmakers together.
UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli lodged three separate petitions with the Supreme Court (SC).
A bench of Chief Justice (CJ) Cholendra Shumsher Rana on September 7 had refused to issue interim order in the writ petition demanding revocation of registration of CPN (Unified Socialist) after splitting CPN-UML stating that there are no grounds and reasons to issue one.
Speaker Sapkota had sent a letter to the Election Commission informing that UML has 121 HoR members and 33 National Assembly members despite the party writing to him about expulsion of 14 HoR members.
UML had expelled 14 HoR members of the Khanal-Nepal faction including Madhav Kumar Nepal on August 17 accusing them of trying to split the party. The faction subsequently applied for registration of a new party the next day with the Election Commission.
The lawmakers expelled from the House included Nepal, Jeevan Ram Shrestha, Mukunda Neupane, Ram Kumari Jhakri, Kalyani Khadka, Laxmi Kumari Chaudhary, Nira Devi Jairu, Pushpa Kumari Karna, Sarala Yadav, Kalila Khatun, Birodh Khatiwada, Krishna Lal Maharjan, Bhawani Khapung and Met Mani Chaudhary.
UML lawmakers then put pressure on Sapkota to implement the decision by issuing notice about their expulsion but to no avail even as Nepal and other expelled lawmakers registered a new party in accordance to the ordinance brought to make splitting of parties easier.
The act about political parties requires the speaker to implement expulsion of lawmakers by issuing notice about expulsion within 15 days. But Speaker Sapkota sat on the letter sent by UML about expulsion of 14 lawmakers including Madhav Kumar Nepal for 13 days and then decided to not implement the decision pointing that the Election Commission has already registered a new party under Nepal.
