The Supreme Court (SC) on Sunday has issued an interim order to stop swearing-in of the three members recommended by the KP Oli government to the National Assembly.
A single bench of Justice Prakash Singh Raut hearing a writ petition filed on Friday by the three persons recommended by the Sher Bahadur Deuba government has issued an interim order in the name of parliament secretariat, Prime Minister (PM) Oli and the President's Office to stop swearing-in of the trio. The swearing-in of three members was scheduled for March 4.
"As the honorable President cannot reject the recommendation of the then government without any constitutional ground don't administer oath of office to Yuba Raj Khatiwada, Ram Narayan Bidari and Bimala Paudel until their fate is decided as their nomination does not seem in line with constitutional provision," the interim order reads.
The SC has summoned both the sides for hearing to decide whether to give continuity to the interim order or not. The caretaker Sher Bahadur Deuba government had recommended Gopal Basnet, Krishna Prasad Paudel and Chandani Joshi for National Assembly on February 11 but the President’s Office sat on the recommendation stating that the government made the recommendation unilaterally without consulting with parties.
The Oli government then withdrew the names and recommended the names of former Nepal Rastra Bank governor Yuba Raj Khatiwada, Ram Narayan Bidari and Bimala Paudel instead.
The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has accused President Bidhya Devi Bhandari of partisanship in nomination of three National Assembly members.
The three recommended by the Deuba government in their petition argued that the President does not have the rights to wait for the recommendation of a government she prefers.
"The President does not have the rights to immediately implement the recommendation made by the government she likes, and abort the recommendation made by the government she does not like by sitting on that," the petition stated. "Do issue an interim order to stop swearing-in as those who have been nominated within a few hours of being recommended after withdrawing the names of us applicants have yet to be sworn in."
