Former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana has signed, after five years, the verdict on the writ petition filed against former prime minister KP Sharma Oli’s first dissolution of the House of Representatives.
With his signature, the full text of the verdict has been made public after five years.
On Falgun 11, 2077 (February 23, 2021), the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court – comprising then-chief justice Rana and justices Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha, Anil Kumar Sinha, Sapana Pradhan Malla, and Tej Bahadur KC – had ruled to reinstate the dissolved House of Representatives. At the time, only a brief order was issued.
Except for Sapana Pradhan Malla, all the justices involved in that decision have since retired.
About a year after the verdict, an impeachment motion was registered against Chief Justice Rana, bearing the signatures of 98 lawmakers. However, Rana had been reluctant to sign the full text of the verdict, saying the motion was neither endorsed by Parliament nor concluded.
“Because his signature had not been affixed, the full text had been held up. He signed it about a month to a month and a half ago. As a few minor procedural tasks remained, it was made public today,” a source said.
The full verdict runs to 142 pages.
Then-prime minister KP Sharma Oli had recommended the dissolution of Parliament on Poush 5, 2077 (December 20, 2020). President Bidhya Devi Bhandari approved it and dissolved Parliament.
The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court declared the dissolution unconstitutional and nullified it.
At the time, the Court also issued a mandamus order directing that a session of the House of Representatives be convened within 13 days of the verdict.
