The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday has endorsed nomination of the three members recommended by the KP Sharma Oli government to the National Assembly.
A joint bench of Justices Kedar Chalise and Sharada Ghimire hearing writ petition filed by the three persons recommended by the Sher Bahadur Deuba government has revoked the interim order earlier issued by a single bench of Justice Prakash Singh Raut on February 25 to stop swearing-in of the trio.
The bench of Chalise and Ghimire after hearing both the sides on Wednesday has decided to not give continuity to the interim order. The bench has revoked the interim order stating that there is no provision requiring the President to endorse the names recommended by the government within a stipulated period, and deemed that the Oli government has rights to withdraw the names recommended by the Deuba government.
The SC had earlier summoned both the sides on Sunday but the hearing was stopped when Justice Prakash Singh Raut, who was part of the joint bench with Justice Hari Krishna Karki, recused himself from the case after advocate Babu Raja Joshi pleading on behalf of the petitioners argued that Raut cannot again hear the case after issuing an interim order on February 25 to stop swearing-in of the three members recommended by Oli government.
The hearing was assigned to the bench of Chalise and Ghimire today.
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. President Bhandari nominated the three persons recommended by the Oli government on the same day the recommendation was made.
The three persons recommended by Deuba government then moved the SC demanding that they be nominated to the National Assembly instead, and an interim order be issued to stop swearing-in of those recommended by the Oli government.
A single bench of Justice Raut on February 25 then 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, and summoned both the sides for hearing to decide whether to give continuity to the interim order or not.
The SC's ruling today has paved the way for swearing-in of Khatiwada, who has since been appointed finance minister, Bidari and Paudel who could not be sworn in on Sunday due to the interim order.
