Delivery of justice hampered due to delay in the appointment of justices: Supreme Court

Published On: March 30, 2023 10:00 AM NPT By: Republica  | @RepublicaNepal


KATHMANDU, March 30: The Supreme Court (SC) has said that justice could not be delivered on time to the beneficiaries as several positions of justices are lying vacant in the apex court.

Organizing a press conference on Tuesday, SC said that due to the lack of required positions of justices in SC, there is difficulty in administering justice on time.

SC spokesperson Bimal Poudel said that there are 21 positions of justices, but only 16 justices have been working for the past six months. He argued that justice could not be delivered to the clients on time as a result of this. Poudel said that while managing the hearing, 21 justices were targeted and formed into a group, but the number of justices was not sufficient and the service users felt difficulties.

Spokesperson Poudel drew the attention of the relevant bodies to the fact that the delay in the appointment of the Chief Justice and justices has created an obstacle in the overall case management and performance of the court.

“At present, the government must ensure that the positions of the Chief Justice and the Justices of the Supreme Court should be filled as well as the appointment of new justices should be done,” said Spokesperson Poudel. 

“Our constitution and laws state that this matter should be initiated and recommended one month before any position in the apex court falls vacant in the SC, and that it should be taken to the hearing procedures. Otherwise, it creates an obstacle in the overall case management, in the performance of the overall court and as a result in serving the people. I would like to humbly request all the agencies to keep this matter in mind.”

Spokesperson Poudel also claimed that more than 36,500 cases are pending in the Supreme Court. He said that more than 6,300 cases have been registered in the current financial year, out of which more than 7,700 cases have been settled and 28,852 cases are yet to be settled. 

He said that about 900 cases per bench have been disposed of in the current financial year alone. He clarified that the case is usually heard by a joint bench consisting of two persons.

He said that in the current financial year, two pending cases registered in 2063 BS and 2064 BS have been dismissed. At present, the oldest cases in the Supreme Court are two cases registered in the year 2065 BS.


Leave A Comment