Voting on a preliminary report, committee members from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), from some Madhes-based political parties and some other CA members backed the proposal for having two separate mechanisms. Committee members from the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Unified Marxist Leninist) backed the proposal for having only a central mechanism for the appointment of all justices- both at the central and provincial levels.
The Maoist-backed proposal received 24 out of 42 votes cast and the other proposal 18 votes. Prabhu Sah, chairman of the committee, did not have to vote.
Maoist and other CA members who supported the two-tier mechanism for appointing justices argued that such a provision was needed to give more authority to the states.
But the NC, CPN-UML and other members who backed a single mechanism for appoint all justices, argued that a dual system would weaken the Supreme Court and the central government.
They said that justices will be entirely accountable only to the respective states and they would not be answerable to the central government. "This provision will create a serious problem in many crucial cases and, for instance, the center becomes helpless when there is a dispute between two provinces," said Ram Nath Dhakal, a member of the committee from the CPN-UML.
The final recommendation of the committee has to be endorsed by the CA.
On Wednesday, a majority of CA members on the same committee had voted for a provision that allows the appointment of eligible individuals other than Supreme Court justices to the post of chief justice. The Maoists backed the idea while the NC and CPN-UML were for appointing the chief justice only from among sitting justices of the SC.
Seventeen CA members in the 43-member committee represent the Maoist party while the NC has nine members and CPN-UML has seven. Four CA members in the committee represent the Madhesi People´s Rights Forum. Likewise, Tarai Madhes Democratic Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, Nepal Loktantrik Samajwadi Dal, Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch, Rastriya Janamukti Party and Nepal Family Party have one member each in the committee.
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