KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday declined to issue an interim order on a writ filed against newly-elected Speaker Agni Sapkota.
A single bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla issued a show-cause notice in the name of defendants. The bench started hearing the case on Monday. The hearing was put on hold till today as the bench ran short of time.
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.
In his writ petition, Tripathi has listed the government authorities including the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Secretariat of the House of Representatives, Sapkota, senior-most member of the House Mahanta Thakur, the Home Ministry, police headquarters, the Kavre District Police Office, and Sindhupalchok District Police Office as defendants.
Sapkota, however, already has been elected Speaker of House of Representatives. He has assumed his office too.
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.
Comment