KATHMANDU, April 18: A supplementary writ petition was filed at the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday, questioning the eligibility of Dr. Gunakar Bhatta for appointment as the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank.
According to the Information Officer for the SC Nirajan Pandey, the petition was filed on Friday, raising questions over Bhatta's qualifications. Dr Bhatta tendered his resignation from the post of Executive Director of the NRB earlier on Friday to assume a new role as the governor of the country’s central bank.
The supplementary petition has been filed at the SC demanding that Dr Bhatta not be appointed as the governor of the central bank. On Friday, advocates Pratibha Upreti and Bishal Thapa submitted the petition, claiming that Bhatta does not meet the required qualifications for the position.
Twist in NRB Governor appointment as supplementary petition fil...
Earlier, Advocate Bishal Thapa had filed a writ petition challenging the amendment that removed the age limit criteria for the appointment of the Governor. The supplementary petition has been filed as part of the existing writ.
On April 15, during a hearing on the writ, a single bench of Justice Nitya Nanda Pandey issued an interim order not to implement the amendment that removed the age limit of 65 years for the Governor’s appointment.
The petition challenges the second amendment made to the “Criteria for the Appointment and Nomination of Officials and Members of Public Bodies Affiliated to the Ministry of Finance, 2073.”
The parliament had removed the age limit for appointments. Prior to the amendment, the provision required officials, including the Governor, to be at least 35 years old and not exceed 65 years of age. However, the recent amendment removed this provision, prompting the filing of the writ petition at the SC.
