KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a mandate to make the leader of the largest party of Koshi province as the Chief Minister.

Citing Article 168 (3) of the Constitution, SC issued the mandamus directing Koshi Chief Parashuram Khapung to appoint the Chief Minister from the largest party in the province assembly within 48 hours.

The order was passed by a bench of Justices Sapana Malla Pradhan, Kumar Chudal, and Nahakul Subedi.

The full bench comprising Justices Malla, Chudal, and Subedi started hearing the final arguments on the writ filed by the parliamentary party leader of the main opposition party in Koshi, Hikmat Karki, on Monday.

On August 21, when Chief Minister Uddhav Thapa took the vote of confidence, UML went to the Supreme Court after Israel Mansuri of Nepali Congress, who ran the parliament as a senior member, also gave a vote of confidence.

Karki, also a former Chief Minister, demanded mandamus to revoke Chief Minister Thapa and appoint the leader of the largest party as new Chief Minister.

In the said case, the Supreme Court, while hearing on August 24, ordered the Koshi province government not to take any decision that would have a long-term impact.

Earlier, the Supreme Court annulled the appointment of Chief Minister Thapa after outgoing Speaker Baburam Gautam signed Thapa’s appointment as Chief Minister.

UML, the largest party the province, has 40 lawmakers in the 93-member province assembly.