KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court (SC) is hearing the writ petition against the dissolution of the House of Representatives.
A single bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana has been designated to look after 12 writs registered against the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s recent move of dissolving the House of Representatives (HoR).
Here’s what advocate Kanchan Krishna Neupane said in the hearing:
“Today’s constitutional crisis has to be addressed by this bench. The process in the dissolution of the House of Representatives is incomplete. The Prime Minister can dissolve the House only if a no-confidence motion is registered against him or lack of possibility of forming another government. In 2053 BS, Manmohan Adhikari it was said that the House cannot be dissolved when there is an alternative. The current decision is contrary to the precedent of 2053 BS, or then after. The current state of affairs will lead to deep constitutional crisis, economic crisis and political confrontation.”
Likewise taking part in the debate, senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi said that the current constitution does not envisage dissolution of the HoR.
“So far, the House of Representatives has not been dissolved on the basis of abstract claims. However, this has happened now. The option of House dissolution should be the last resort to avoid political instability. The Prime Minister has no intention to hold the election. There are instances of Prime Ministers stepping down soon after the dissolution of the House of Representatives. PM Oli has not resigned. This shows that he is hell-bent on sticking to the power. He should have resigned soon after the dissolution of the HoR.”
Meanwhile, Senior advocate Shambhu Thapa said that the Prime Minister was not in minority to implement his intention in the parliament. Interestingly, the Prime Minister has not even gone to the Parliament. The parliament has not seen any major dispute. This step can be thought of only if he fails in the Parliament. The use of the baton for the House dissolution is to keep the lawmakers in discipline.
“How could he dissolve the House without going there? The court needs to issue an interim order against the decision,” he demanded.
The writs were registered at the Supreme Court against the decision naming the Office of the President, Office of the Prime Minster and Council of Ministers and House Speaker as defendants.
Advocate Prabesh KC had registered a writ on Tuesday on behalf of the members of dissolved House of Representatives including Dev Prasad Gurung, Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, Shashi Shrestha and Ram Kuamri Jhankri while other legal practitioners also challenged the executive’s move at the apex court.
The writs registered so far to this effect have demanded revoking of all the decisions and actions carried out in regard to the dissolution of the HoR as per the Article 133 (2 and 3) of the Nepal Constitution.
It may be noted that President Bidya Devi Bhandari had dissolved the HoR at the recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
Twelve out of 13 writs challenging the decision of HoR dissolution have been registered on the general bench. The hearing on the writs is beginning from today.
The writ registered on the constitutional bench has been scheduled for hearing on coming Friday.
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