Constitutional bench formed to hear petitions against House dissolution

KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court has formed a constitutional bench to hear writ petitions filed against the dissolution of the House of Representatives.

The bench comprises Chief Justice Prakashman Singh Raut and Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Phuyal, and Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma, Supreme Court Spokesperson Arjun Prasad Koirala informed.

The interim government had recommended the dissolution of the House, which President Ram Chandra Paudel approved on September 12. Following that, 16 writ petitions were filed at the Supreme Court demanding an order to revoke the dissolution and reinstate the parliament.

Preliminary hearings on the petitions began today at the constitutional bench located in the annex building of the court, as the main building was damaged by arson on September 9 during the Gen Z movement.

The arson and vandalism had forced the court to suspend all operations except for habeas corpus and urgent petitions. The registration and hearing of regular writs resumed on October 14, leading to the filing of multiple petitions challenging the House dissolution.

Among those who filed the petitions are advocates Dr. Prem Raj Silwal, Yubaraj Poudel, Kirti Nath Sharma Poudel, Ayush Badal, Makbul Miya, Khadka Bahadur Shah, Dambar Prasad Shivakoti, Dal Bahadur Dhami, Prakash Bhujel, and Bipin Dhakal.

Earlier, the full court meeting chaired by Chief Justice Raut had decided to resume the registration and hearing of writ petitions from October 14.

Spokesperson Koirala said the Supreme Court’s digital system, damaged during the fire, has now been successfully recovered, with data on both pending and settled cases found to be intact. Currently, hearings are being conducted through five operating benches of the court.