KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court is to conduct a hearing on the case relating to a forest by the constitutional bench. The State 2 government had filed a writ petition at SC against the federal government relating to the conservation and management of Sagarnath Forest Development Project.

A single bench of Justice Dambar Bahadur Shahi issued the order for it to be heard next by the constitutional bench.

The constitutional bench is of five members including Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana. The constitutional provision puts that disputes relating to the jurisdiction of federal, State and local level governments would be heard by the constitutional bench.

On behalf of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment of the State 2 government, assistant soil conservation officer at the Ministry, Bechan Kumar Mahato, had filed the writ petition, making defendants to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, Singha Durbar, on Thursday.

In the petition, Yadav had argued that the federal government was intending to take the Sagarnath Forest Development Project under its jurisdiction though there was the constitutional provision that State government had the rights to conserve and manage the national forests.