KATHMANDU:  The hearing on a writ petition filed against the candidate of Speaker Agni Sapkota has been postponed.

A single bench of Justice Hari Phuyal at the Supreme Court (SC) was due to hear the petition on Sunday. The bench could not hear the case as Phuyal had advocated in a case against Sapkota earlier when he was an advocate.

Advocate Dinesh Tripathi had moved the court seeking an interim order to immediately halt the process of Speaker’s election arguing that a murder-accused should not qualify for the post of Speaker of the federal parliament.

Tripathi, in the writ petition, has demanded to immediately arrest Sapkota and present him at the court since he is the murder-accused.

Sapkota has been accused of murdering Arjun Lama of Chhatrabans of Kavre district.

The dead body of Lama, who was abducted by the Maoist cadres on April 30, 2005, had been found at Charkilo of Budakhani of the district.

Meanwhile, a meeting of Parliament has been slated for 3 pm today to elect a new Speaker.