KATHMANDU: A majority of the Impeachment Recommendation Committee lawmakers recommended the impeachment of the suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana.
In the 11-member impeachment panel, six lawmakers from the ruling coalition favored the impeachment of Rana and passed a proposal on the basis of a majority.
Meanwhile, five members from CPN-UML and Loktrantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP) differed from the majority on impeaching Rana.
The UML put forth an eight-point difference in the impeachment panel’s report. UML Vice-chair Bishnu Paudel, who is a member of the panel, said that the report of the impeachment panel could not be accepted as it resembled the intent of the alliance.
He asserted that a decision cannot be reached to impeach Rana as the investigation had not been fully completed.
The committee was to submit its report to Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkotaka today, the last day of the term of the House of Representatives. The parliament is expiring Saturday at midnight.
Sources say the committee is making every possible effort to submit the report before midnight.
Impeachment panel Chairman Ram Bahadur Bista is entrusted with the task of making the final decision to impeach Rana. His vote decides whether Rana gets impeached or not. However, Chair Bista has not taken any decision as of yet.
It has been said that the new parliament that will be formed after the November 20 election will take a decision on Rana’s suspension.
Bista said the committee will decide that the impeachment proceedings will be continued by the next parliament and continue the suspension, citing an example of India dating back three decades.
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