KATHMANDU:  The Accountability Watch Committee (AWC) has demanded that the government and Supreme Court to protect the credibility of the judicial sector by freeing it from political influence.

The Committee stated this in a press statement, drawing the attention of the government towards the news which stated that the Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana had claimed a share in the coalition government’s Cabinet.

It said if the news report is true then it will decimate the judicial image of the judiciary itself. The Committee viewed that involving the Chief Justice in political affairs would be against the principles of the world’s justice system, the Constitution of Nepal, the rule of law, and the basic norms and values of the judicial system.

It also said that this will also raise question on the independence of the judiciary and its capacity.

AWC intervenes in areas of law and policy where Human Rights and the rule of law are concerned. The Committee was formed in 2006 with a mission to keep the issues surrounding impunity, accountability and rule of law in the national political agenda.

Advocacy Forum had played a lead role in the formation of the committee.