The Supreme Court has quashed the Election Commission's decision to revoke the candidacy of Dr Toshima Karki, a lawmaker from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).
On Tuesday, a bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Sharma and Mahesh Sharma Paudel annulled the Election Commission's decision to revoke Karki's candidacy, the court’s deputy registrar Nirajan Pandey said.
A complaint was filed at the Election Commission against Karki when she was preparing to contest the November 2022 election from Lalitpur Constituency No. 3. The Commission cancelled her candidacy saying she had filed candidacy without resigning from her position as an elected member of the Nepal Medical Council. It also led to questions over whether the position she held was a public office or not.
Karki filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court after the Election Commission revoked her candidacy. Responding to the petition on November 1, 2022, a bench of Justice Kumar Chudal issued an interim order instructing the Election Commission to not immediately implement its decision.
On November 14, 2022, a bench of Justices Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Til Prasad Shrestha continued the interim order.
Following the court’s order, Karki contested and won the election from Lalitpur Constituency No. 3.
