HoR moves forward impeachment motion against Chief Justice Rana

KATHMANDU: The parliament has moved forward the impeachment motion filed against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana.

A meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Sunday formed an 11-member impeachment recommendation committee comprising four members from the CPN-UML, two each from the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Maoist Center, and one each from the CPN-Unified Socialist (CPN-US), Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) and Democratic Socialist Party (DSP).

The 11 members in the committee are UML’s Bishnu Poudel, Shivamaya Tumbahamphe, Krishna Bhakta Pokhrel and Lal Babu Pandit, NC’s Meen Bahadur Bishwakarma and Ram Bahadur Bista, Maoist Center’s Yashoda Subedi Gurung and Rekha Sharma, CPN-US’s Kalyani Khadka, JSP’s Pramod Sah and DSP’s Ekwal Miya.

According to HoR rules of procedures, the recommendation committee should select a chairperson from among the members and initiate proceedings at the earliest.

A total of 98 lawmakers from the ruling coalition had filed an impeachment motion against CJ Rana on February 13. The impeachment motion details 21 charges against Rana such as failing to protect the integrity of the judiciary, check corruption, and abuse of constitutional responsibility, among others.

According to the rules, Rana will get a chance to present his case within seven days after the commencement of proceedings before the impeachment recommendation committee. If the defense presented by CJ Rana is not satisfactory or if he does not appear in person to present his case within the stipulated time, the committee will forward a report with its recommendation to the Parliament.

The committee has a maximum of three months to submit a report with recommendations.

If the recommendation committee submits a report stating that the impeachment is valid and if the parliament passes it by a two-thirds majority, Rana will be relieved of his post.