KATHMANDU, Feb 22: On the occasion of Democracy Day, the Supreme Court (SC) has published the judgments dating back 71 years ago by digging into its archives. Chief Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha disclosed the rulings of the SC spanning from 2009 BS to 2014 BS. These historical judgments of seven decades ago were made public on Monday, documented for the first time in modern Nepali language.
During the period from 2009 BS to 2014 BS, SC heard and presented judgment of 951 cases. In the first lawsuit of civil nature, a penalty of 10 paisa was ordered. Chief Justice Shrestha said that the establishment of the Supreme Court is a milestone in the judicial history of Nepal.
"The judgments of the SC, which carry the legacy of judicial history, were once lost, have been recovered and translated into the modern Nepali language for easy comprehension," he said.
According to Chief Justice Shrestha, these judgments serve as evidential records for disputing parties. He stated, "The judgments of the Supreme Court, which are in fact public property but not easily accessible to the public, have been translated from the old writing style to the modern writing style and will serve as legal precedence.”
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The verdicts of the SC have been published in Kanun Patrika since 2015 BS. However, the judgments before that period have not yet been published. The verdicts were written in the language of that period which is different from the current language and cannot be easily understood.
The editing and publication branch of the SC made long efforts to upload all the judgments of the SC in a comprehensible language on the website, aiming to make them easy to study and accessible for students.
With the help of nine experts, the work of translating 2568 verdicts issued from 2008 BS to 2012 BS, was done from Poush 1, 2078 BS to Jestha 12, 2080 BS. The documentation was started under the coordination of Supreme Court’s Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal.
The first SC judgment
The first verdict of the apex court was issued on Shrawan 27, 2009 BS in a civil case.
From 2009 BS to 2014 BS, the court issued verdicts on 951 cases. In 2009 BS, verdicts were issued on 46 cases. It is mentioned that the verdicts of 900 cases were delivered in 2010 BS and verdicts of three cases were issued in 2011 BS. In 2012 BS and 2014 BS, verdicts were issued on one case each. In 2013 BS, no verdict was issued at all.
Historical Background
The apex court of Nepal was established in Shrawan, 1997 BS, following a decree issued by then Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher Rana. Bahadur Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana was appointed as the chief justice general after being elected according to the decree.
After the establishment of democracy in 2007 BS, the Supreme Court Act 2008 BS was drafted and endorsed on Baisakh 26, 2009 BS. The Supreme Court came into existence after the Act was published in the Nepal Gazette in Poush 8, 2009. Hari Prasad Pradhan was appointed as the first chief justice of the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court was officially established after the enactment of the Supreme Court Act in 2013 BS.
