KATHMANDU, July 3: The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed, by majority decision, the writ petitions filed against the appointment of 52 officials to various constitutional commissions. With this verdict issued on Wednesday, the officials of the constitutional bodies will now be able to serve their full terms.
The hearing on the dispute was conducted by a constitutional bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut, senior-most Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla, and Justices Manoj Kumar Sharma, Dr. Kumar Chudal, and Dr. Nahakul Subedi. Among the justices on the bench, the senior-most Justice Malla and Justices Sharma and Dr. Chudal gave their opinion in favor of dismissing the writ petitions.
Chief Justice Raut and Dr. Subedi, however, stated that the recommendation made by the Constitutional Council on December 15, 2020, and the appointments based on it were against the constitution and the law and thus should be annulled through a writ of certiorari. But regarding the second round of appointments made on May 9, 2021, they agreed that the writ petitions should be dismissed.
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Although the hearing on the writ petitions had concluded earlier and the verdict was initially scheduled to be announced on June 11, the court later set today as the new date for the verdict. After extensive discussions, the SC announced its decision to dismiss the writ petitions late at night. At midnight, the constitutional bench convened, and Chief Justice Raut informed from the bench that there had been a split opinion among the justices.
Following the verdict, Supreme Court spokesperson Achyut Kharel informed that the majority of justices ruled in favor of dismissing the writ petitions.
On February 3, 2021, 32 individuals were appointed during the first round of appointments. Then, on June 24, 2021 (Ashar 10, 2078), in the second round, 20 more officials were appointed. Altogether, 52 individuals were appointed. A total of 15 writ petitions were filed at the SC, arguing that the appointments made through ordinances to constitutional commissions were unlawful.
The hearing on those petitions concluded on May 15. Although the verdict was initially scheduled for June 11, the date was later moved to July 2 (Wednesday).
