The Supreme Court (SC) has completed hearing on the petitions filed against amendment of the law related to the Constitutional Council and appointments made in accordance to that amendment.
The constitutional bench including acting Chief Justice (CJ) Deepak Kumar Karki, and Justices Meera Khadka, Hari Krishna Karki, Bishwambhar Shrestha and Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada had started hearing on the case from Friday.
Three lawyers had pleaded on behalf of the petitioners on Friday while the other side was allotted one hour. The other side also completed pleading on Wednesday and the Apex Court will now decide whether to issue an interim order or show-cause notice or not.
The then prime minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli on December 15, 2020 had unilaterally issued the ordinance with a provision that allowed decision in the Constitutional Council with support of the majority of the existing members without even discussing the ordinance in the Cabinet which also included some ministers who were against the ordinance.
The then Constitutional Council Act required presence of four members apart from the PM to constitute quorum, and decision could only be taken through consensus. President Bidya Devi Bhandari had hastily authenticated the controversial ordinance and issued a notice to that regard but withheld details about the ordinance.
Multiple petitioners including one Om Prakash Aryal moved the SC against the ordinance the very next day.
Aryal’s petition pointed that the Constitutional Council meeting was held at five in the evening even before it was published in the Nepal Gazette for the information of general public to study the amendments, and demands revocation of any decision taken by the meeting held even before the ordinance was published in the Nepal Gazette, interim order preventing implementation of the ordinance until the case was decided, and appropriate order to warn the executive branch of the state and its leadership that committed a fraud against the Constitution by issuing the ordinance violating constitutional morality to prevent unconstitutional actions.
Oli had then made appointments in accordance to the ordinance. Petitions were lodged even against those appointments.
There was dispute about whether CJ Cholendra Shumsher Rana, who is now suspended after registration of an impeachment motion against him, could hear the petitions or not as he was one of the members that helped constitute quorum in that Constitutional Council meeting.
Rana had verbally announced to recuse himself from the case but a single bench of Justice Hari Phuyal hearing another petition related to eligibility of Rana hearing the case had stopped hearing of the case by constitutional bench excluding Rana pointing that the Constitution requires the constitutional bench to be headed by the CJ.
Karki’s order also invited controversy.
Acting CJ Karki recently had transferred the case to the constitutional bench from a joint bench.
