The Supreme Court (SC) has issued show cause notice in the case against amendment of the law related to the Constitutional Council and appointments made in accordance to that amendment.
The SC after completing hearing on the petitions filed against the acts on Wednesday has issued a show-cause notice in the name of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, and the President’s Office.
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.
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 current Sher Bahadur Deuba government and the President’s Office, that remains unchanged, will now have to furnish written response defending the decisions made then.
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.
