Supreme Court staff leave offices after order to register petitions against CJ recommendation

KATHMANDU: Chaos erupted at the Supreme Court on Monday after Acting Chief Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla ordered the registration of petitions challenging the administrative refusal to accept writs related to the recommendation for chief justice.

Following the order, employees at the Supreme Court administration reportedly left their offices, leaving most administrative sections empty.

Lawyers are now preparing protests against what they described as obstruction and misconduct by court employees.

Acting Chief Justice Malla had directed the court administration to register all pending petitions by 1 pm on Monday and place them on Tuesday’s hearing list.

The petitions challenge the decision of the Constitutional Council to recommend Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma for the post of chief justice.

Malla’s secretariat had instructed the Supreme Court administration to complete the registration process within the given deadline, after which the petitions were formally registered.

A court bench will now decide whether to uphold the administrative rejection of the petitions or quash it and allow full registration of the writs.

On May 8, the Constitutional Council recommended Sharma for the position of chief justice. Senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi, advocate Prem Raj Silwal and others had filed writ petitions at the Supreme Court, arguing that the recommendation violated seniority and established judicial convention.

However, the Supreme Court administration had refused to register the writs.

Following the rejection under Rule 40(1)(g) of the Supreme Court Rules, 2017, advocate Silwal filed a separate petition challenging the administrative decision. Although the application was submitted on May 11, it had not been registered.

The Nepal Bar Association had also objected to the conduct of the Supreme Court administration.

Supreme Court Registrar Man Bahadur Karki had reportedly delayed the process, saying the matter would be handled “after consultation.”

After the registrar declined to proceed, Silwal submitted an application directly to the secretariat of Acting Chief Justice Malla, alleging deliberate delay and misuse of authority.

Citing Articles 128(2) and 136 of the Constitution, Silwal sought intervention from the acting chief justice, following which the secretariat ordered the registration of the petition.