The JC meeting on Tuesday decided to form a probe committee under the chairmanship of Supreme Court (SC) justice Top Bahadur Magar to further investigate into the judges´ conduct. The probe committee has been authorized to submit its investigation report within 45 days. [break]
“We will decide whether to take action against them only after receiving recommendation of the committee,” said JC Secretary Jeevan Hari Adhikary. “We cannot divulge the names right away as the judges are still under investigation. Exposing their names right now would be unethical.” Adhikary said, adding that some experts will also be included in the probe committee.
The JC had been investigating into judges´ conduct after it received complaints lodged by victims, plaintiffs and defendants, court officials, lawyers and others. The judges have been accused of accepting bribes, inefficiency and misconduct.
Of the total 70 judges under scanner, the JC decided to hold the cases against 54 suspect judges as the complaints against them have been found to be baseless.
Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha, immediately after assuming his post had vowed that he would not leave any stone unturned “to curb irregularities in the judiciary and render the judiciary´s image clean”.
As per the constitutional provisions and the JC Act, judges found guilty of corruption and misconduct face mainly three punishments.
Firstly, the convicted judges may be dismissed. Secondly, such judges may be suspended while the JC will files a charge sheet against them at the appellate court. And thirdly, the JC may alert the judges to abide by the norms, ethics and legal provisions while carrying out their duties.
The JC meeting was attended by the chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha, Law and Justice Minister Prem Bahadur Singh, SC senior justice Khil Raj Regmi, JC members Basudev Dhungana and Motikaji Staphit.
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