KATHMANDU: Eleven lifetime members of the Nepal Academy will no longer receive allowances following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Nepal that upheld the Academy’s decision to stop dual benefits.
The decision comes after the court dismissed a writ petition filed against the Academy’s move to halt additional allowances for lifetime members who already receive salaries or pensions from state institutions.
The Academy had earlier decided, through a council meeting chaired by Chancellor Bhupal Rai on February 23, 2023, to discontinue such dual benefits. The affected members subsequently challenged the decision at the Supreme Court.
According to Member Secretary Dhan Prasad Subedi, the court’s verdict has now cleared the way for full implementation of the decision. “As the court has endorsed the Academy’s move, it will now be enforced accordingly,” he said.
The writ petition had been filed by 11 lifetime members, including former Vice-Chancellor Basudev Tripathi. A joint bench of justices Manoj Kumar Sharma and Nripdhwaj Niraula dismissed the petition on March 15.
Those affected by the decision include Tripathi, Chudamani Bandhu Regmi, Ganga Prasad Upreti, Yogendra Prasad Yadav, Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha, Rajeshwari Dutta Chataut, Ashesh Kumar Malla, Dhruba Chandra Gautam, Toya Gurung, Tulsi Prasad Joshi and Shashi Bikram Shah.
The Academy had argued that lifetime members already receiving government salaries or pensions should not be entitled to additional allowances. However, the petitioners maintained that the stipend was an honorarium granted in recognition of their academic contributions and should not be considered a duplicative benefit.
A separate petition had also been filed by Ghanendra Ojha, arguing against the provision of dual benefits to lifetime members.
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