A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court claiming that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli failed to seek a vote of confidence.
Advocate Birendra KC filed the petition on Thursday, claiming that PM Oli is currently leading only a caretaker government and demanding the initiation of the process to form a new government.
Nirajan Pandey, the court’s information officer, said that the petition has been registered.
The petition names PM Oli, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar, Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire, the Federal Parliament Secretariat in Singha Durbar, and the President’s Office (Sheetal Niwas) as respondents.
According to Article 100 (2) of the Constitution, if a party participating in the government withdraws its support, the prime minister must table a motion for a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives within 30 days.
The Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal, led by Upendra Yadav, withdrew its support to the government on July 15, while the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) withdrew its support on July 6.
“Since the supporting parties withdrew their support and the prime minister failed to table a motion for a vote of confidence within 30 days, the current Council of Ministers has lost its constitutional legitimacy. Therefore, according to Article 77 (1) (b) of the Constitution, the posts of the prime minister and ministers are now vacant,” the petition states.
The petition argues that, given the caretaker status of the current government, the president should call for the formation of a new government under Article 76 of the Constitution.
It has sought orders, including prohibition and mandamus, to facilitate the formation of a new government under Article 76.
It has also demanded an interim order, claiming that the an "unconstitutional government" is continuing to operate.
The petition demands that the current government led by PM Oli be declared a caretaker government with necessary constitutional interpretation, and that the Oli-led government be prohibited from making far-reaching or policy-related decisions beyond routine operations.
Hearing on the petition has been scheduled for Friday.
Arun Kumar Chaudhary from the NUP served as minister of state for culture, tourism, and civil aviation in the Oli-led government. He claims that he has resigned from his position. However, his name has not yet been removed from the ministry’s website.
When Setopati inquired about his resignation on August 1, Chaudhary said that he had submitted his resignation to the prime minister immediately after the party’s decision.
"I have already resigned from the ministerial post," Chaudhary told Setopati at the time. "The party made its decision on July 6, and started sitting in the opposition from July 7. I don’t remember the exact date, but on July 8 or 9, I had went to the prime minister. He did not receive my resignation. After that, I submitted it to the Prime Minister’s Office and left."
However, Attorney General Ramesh Badal, who serves as the prime minister’s chief legal advisor, had said that there was no need to seek a vote of confidence as the NUP was still part of the government.
"The NUP has not left the government. A party’s decision alone is not enough; the minister must also be removed from the government," Badal said. "When a party hasn’t left the government according to the Constitution and law, how can a vote of confidence be sought just because it claimed to have left?"
