The Supreme Court has issued an order seeking a written response from Prime Minister Sushila Karki in a contempt of court case filed against her.
On Sunday, a bench of Justices Hari Prasad Phuyal and Abdul Aziz Musalman heard the writ petition alleging that the government committed contempt by recalling ambassadors from 11 countries despite the Supreme Court’s order.
During Sunday’s hearing, the court ordered the defendants to submit written responses, according to the Supreme Court’s website.
Two separate contempt petitions were filed on November 18.
In one petition, advocate Prem Raj Silwal named the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers as defendants.
In another petition, advocates Pratibha Upreti, Ananta Raj Luitel, and Bishal Thapa named Prime Minister Sushila Karki among the defendants.
On October 16, the government had recalled Nepal’s ambassadors to China, Germany, Israel, Malaysia, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
A petition was filed in the Supreme Court, seeking an interim order against the government’s decision. Responding to the petition on November 2, a bench of Justices Sharanga Subedi and Shreekanta Paudel issued an interim order directing the government to not implement the recall until a final decision was made.
The very next day, on November 3, Prime Minister Karki again issued an order recalling the same ambassadors.
Following this, the advocates filed the contempt of court petitions.
