A single bench of Chief Justice Khila Raj Regmi on Sunday issued the order following a hearing on a petition filed by three lawyers last week. [break]
Advocate Hari Shankar Karna, Prabin Kumar Pradhan and Karunakar Mallik on Tuesday had filed the petition at the apex court demanding stay order against the cabinet decision. The petitioners have stated that appointments to the top posts of the constitutional bodies without parliamentary hearing would violate the interim constitution.
“The interim constitution clearly states that appointments to constitutional bodies must follow a parliamentary hearing. There is no other alternative offered by the interim constitution for appointments to the posts,” reads the petition.
The petitioners have maintained that the Constitutional Council (CC) should recommend names for the top posts of the constitutional bodies. Neither a meeting of the CC nor a parliamentary hearing is possible in the present context, the petition states.
The Election Commission (EC), Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and Public Service Commission (PSC) are without chiefs while the posts of eight permanent judges at the Supreme Court have also been lying vacant for a long time. EC and PSC are being run by acting chief commissioners while CIAA is without commissioners.
The apex court has issued stayed a total of 54 decisions pertaining to constitutional issues taken by the Baburam Bhattarai-led government.
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