A full bench of Acting Chief Justice Damodar Prasad Sharma and Justices Prakash Wasti and Tarka Raj Bhatta on Thursday issued the order to quash the petitions on which no hearings have been conducted.[break]
The bench ruled that the writ petitions shared issues with seven other petitions which were also related to the presidential order and were filed from March 14 onwards. The apex court is scheduled to conduct hearings on the seven writ petitions from September 19.
Legal practitioners including the writ petitioners have expressed dissatisfaction over the SC´s Thursday order. Sunil Pokhrel, general secretary of Nepal Bar Association (NBA), the umbrella organization of legal practitioners across the country, claimed that he has no knowledge about the apex court giving such a speedy order without even conducting hearings on the writ petitions.
“It seems the bench was formed with a mindset preoccupied with a plan to conclude the cases in that way,” he argued. Pokhrel maintained that the SC´s Thursday order has further bolstered allegations that the judiciary has been influenced by the executive [following the appointment of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi as chairman of the Interim Election Council].
Advocate Om Prakash, one of the petitioners, termed Thursday a black day in the judicial history of Nepal. Though the apex court was scheduled to conduct hearings on 24 writ petitions from August 1 onwards, a special bench of Acting Chief Justice Sharma and Justices Ram Kumar Shah, Kalyan Shrestha, Girish Chandra Lal, Sushila Karki, Prakash Wasti, Baidya Nath Upadhyaya, Tarka Raj Bhatta, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and Bharat Bahadur Karki on July 4 ordered hearings on seven of the petitions simultaneously and on the other 17 petitions as per regular procedure.
Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi was appointed chairman of the Interim Election Council on March 14, following President Ram Baran Yadav´s orders removing constitutional hurdles. The 17 writ petitions were filed before the formation of the Interim Election Council.
The seven writ petitions were filed separately by Advocates Chandra Kant Gyawali, Kanchan Krishna Neupane, Gopal Shiwakoti, Subhas Acharya, Bharat Mani Jangam, Chairman of Lok Kalyankari Janata Party Kishori Mahato and Amar KC of Nepal Rastriya Loktantrik Dal.
Advocates Jagadev Chaudhari, Bharat Mani Jangam and Kanchan Krishna Neupane had filed petitions separately on May 23, 2012.
Similarly, Advocate Bhoj Raj Acharya had filed writ petition on June 11, 2012, Baburam Saiju on June 18, Santosh Basnet on July 12 and Sambal Chaulagai, Rajesh Silwal and Sushil Bhatta separately on September 2.
Also, Advocates Ramji Bista filed petition on September 13, Hari Shankar Karna on September 26, Kishori Mahato of Lok Kalyankari Janata Party on December 5, 2012 and Uma Shrestha of Rastriya Ekata Party on December 23, 2012.
Likewise, Advocate Dilli Ram Guragai had filed writ petition on January 1, Bharat Mani Jangam on February 26, Chandra Kanta Gyawali on March 5 and Aryal on March 6.
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