The Parliamentary Hearing Committee on Thursday has unanimously endorsed the five persons recommended for Supreme Court (SC) justices.
The committee conducted hearing of Prakash Dhungana, Sushma Lata Mathema, Kumar Regmi, Hari Phuyal and Manoj Kumar Sharma at the Singha Durbar on Thursday.
Committee Chairman Laxman Lal Karna told Setopati that the five have been unanimously endorsed after the hearing.
The Judicial Council on April 2 had recommended five justices for the SC and 18 for High Court.
Chief Justice of Patan High Court Prakash Dhungana and that of Surkhet High Court Sushma Lata Mathema, and senior advocate Kumar Regmi, and advocates Hari Phuyal and Manoj Kumar Sharma were recommended for SC.
Regmi is considered close to the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) and Phuyal close to the ruling CPN. Sharma is nephew of former chief justice (CJ) Damodar Sharma.
The then CJ Sharma had appointed his nephew as Appellate Court additional justice. He was relieved of duty after the Constitution promulgated in 2015 did not keep the position of additional justice. He had been practicing as an advocate since then.
The recommendations and appointments of some have been widely criticized. The issue was raised even during the conference of judges that started a day after the appointments.
CJ Rana has since conceded he has vested interest in controversial recommendation of Sharma. The then CJ Sharma had acquitted Rana after the SC made a judicial comment on the verdicts he gave while at the then Appellate Court, and brought him to the SC.
