KATHMANDU: The Nepal Bar Association (NBA) has convened a meeting of the Advisory Council to discuss on the Supreme Court’s (SC) interim order related with the Chief Justice’s role in the Constitutional Bench.

NBA Chairman Chandeshwor Shrestha informed that a meeting of the advisory council has been called for Sunday.

He said that the Council will discuss on various issues including the recently published report affirming corruption in judiciary and the SC interim order about the provisions relating to the Chief Justice presence in the Constitutional Bench among many others.

“Everything is discussed after the advisors are called to the meeting,” the NBA Chairman told Khabarhub, “The Supreme Court’s interim order will also be discussed.”

He added that NBA would make its views public after the Sunday’s meeting.

Following the order to hear the writ petition against the decision of the Constitutional Council in the Constitutional Bench, Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana had constituted the bench under his own leadership. However, as the Chief Justice Rana himself was also present at the meeting of the Constitutional Council, writ petitioner Om Prakash Aryal among many other lawyers had raised concern claiming it would be against the principle of natural justice for the CJ to attend the Bench in the case related with him.

CJ Rana had verbally notified that he would leave the bench.

However, a single bench of Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal, hearing on the writ claiming the Constitutional Bench could not be formed without Chief Justice, on Thursday ruled that a constitutional bench other than the Chief Justice could not be constituted and ordered not to hear the case scheduled for Friday.

Following the order of CJ Rana to step down from the Constitutional Bench and the interim order on Thursday, there is confusion as to how the writ petition against the decision of the Constitutional Council will proceed.

NBA has called the meeting to form an opinion on the issue.