KATHMANDU: The Constitutional Bench formed to hear the writ petition against the ordinance relating to Constitutional Council and the appointment based on that ‘controversial’ ordinance has postponed hearing till further notice without entering the issue.
A constitutional bench comprising Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and Justices Deepak Kumar Karki, Meera Khadka, Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada and Dr. Ananda Mohan Bhattarai had initiated the hearing.
However, when the writ petitioner advocate Om Prakash Aryal expressed concern over CJ Rana’s presence in the bench in which the CJ has been made the defendant, the hearing got postponed before the formal start of the debate on the issue.
According to sources, advocate Aryal alleged CJ Rana of consenting to the ‘unlawful’ appointments after getting share in some of the posts. Infuriated by the remark, CJ Rana warned Aryal not to label accusations without any evidence.
Senior Advocate Shambhu Thapa also urged CJ Rana to decide whether to sit in the bench or not as there has been questions raised against his presence in the Bench. But, the constitution has made the presence of the Chief Justice in the Constitutional Bench mandatory.
After dispute arose in the court, Justice Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada advised to postpone the hearing and settle the concern finding some middle way.
“The constitution has made the presence of the chief justice mandatory in the Constitutional Bench, but he himself came up with the issue of opposition,” Justice Khatiwada said, adding, “We have the heard the arguments and we will not enter the subject today. A middle ground has to be found without violating the valid principles and practices of law.”
Khatiwada’s remark has been regarded as an indication of the fact that CJ Rana is likely to quit the Bench.
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