The hearing on the contempt of court cases against Dr Govinda KC and Kantipur has stopped for the day on Sunday and will continue on Monday.
A seven-man full bench headed by Chief Justice (CJ) Gopal Parajuli on Sunday heard both the cases related to the CJ including the controversy of date of birth among others.
The advocates on behalf of the petitioners in both the cases pleaded during the hearing today. They argued that CJ Parajuli was put under mental pressure through continuous news coverage against him, and claimed that can affect delivery of justice.
The contempt of court case against Dr KC was initiated by the Supreme Court (SC) on its own for the orthopedic surgeon's comments against the CJ while the one against Kanitpur was lodged by advocate Toya Nath Dhungana for reporting on the controversy of Parajuli's date of birth. Om Prakash Mishra, Cholendra Shumsher JBR, Deepak Kumar Karki, Kedar Prasad Chalise, Sarada Prasad Ghimire and Tej Bahadur KC are the other justices in the full bench.
A joint bench of justices Purushottam Bhandari and Bam Kumar Shrestha on January 10 had ordered release of Dr KC, who had started fast-unto-death demanding resignation of Parajuli, on guarantee of senior advocate Surendra Bhandari considering the health of Dr KC.
The bench has also asked for the file about CJ Parajuli's citizenship certificate and educational certificates as demanded by Dr KC while recording his statement to the SC. "Do seek copies of both the citizenship certificates issued in the name of Gopal Parajuli from the Kathmandu District Administration Office and the decision taken by the Judicial Council about age, and copies of the educational certificates," the SC order reads.
This means CJ Parajuli will himself lead the bench that will check authenticity of Parajuli's citizenship certificate and educational certificates.
The bench had also asked for the file of the verdict given on Dr Shashi Sharma's petition. Dr KC had started his 14th fast-unto-death for dismissal of CJ Parajuli after the joint bench of Parajuli and Justice Dipak Kumar Karki ordered reinstatement of Dr Shashi Sharma as dean of Institute of Medicine under the Tribhuvan University (TU).
The joint bench after conducting the final hearing of the writ petition filed by Dr Sharma four years ago demanding his reinstatement had ordered his reinstatement for four days if he so wishes.
The contempt of court case against Kantipur was filed for publishing a news report titled ‘Four dates of birth of CJ Gopal Parajuli in government documents.'
