As parliamentarians sought his opinion regarding growing conflict between the judiciary and parliament over the 16-point deal between four major political forces, Shrestha, speaking at the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee on Monday, said the decision of a state organ may not always be pleasant to others.
"Constitutional questions and issues settled by the court sometimes have political consequences," said Shrestha. "However, there should not be any political motive while settling constitutional questions. If you find a political motive behind a decision, the existing constitution and legal provisions have provided the parliamentarians the right to take action," he told parliamentarians.
He suggested parliamentarians not to lose faith in independent judiciary. "There is procedure for appeal against any verdict or order. As a justice, I cannot speak on sub-judice issues. However, I urge you to reform the judiciary rather than look for alternatives to independent judiciary," he said.
Judiciary needs to be remodeled: Minister Shrestha
"I request you not to doubt the motive of the institution. If we lose faith in one another, the country would suffer. I request you not to lose faith in constitutionalism," Shrestha told parliamentarians.
Earlier, parliamentarians had sought his opinion on the interim order against the 16-point deal. Parliamentarians, including Agni Sapkota, Sher Dhan Rai, Bal Krishna Khand and Prem Bahadur Singh had sought Shrestha's opinion on the court order and lamented that the judiciary had overstepped its jurisdiction.
"Every time there is a hope of drafting constitution through the Constituent Assembly, the court's verdicts and orders have created a problem," said Lawmaker Prem Bahadur Singh, citing the verdict that prevented the first Constituent Assembly from extending its tenure and the recent interim order against the 16-point deal.
As a single bench of Justice Girish Chandra Lal had issued interim order against the 16-point deal stating that the deal on forming eight provinces, assigning provincial assemblies to name them and forming a federal commission to finalize delineation contradicts with Article 138 of the Interim Constitution.
Meanwhile, Shrestha also urged parliamentarians to pinpoint corruption cases rather than make general statements saying corruption is rife in judiciary. "There would be zero-tolerance to corruption," said Shrestha.
Existing JC structure problematic
In addition, Justice Shrestha said that the existing structure of the Judicial Council, which appoints judges and takes action against them, is problematic.
"The existing structure of the Judicial Council is problematic. Justices are in minority while non-justices are in majority. This has created a problem in judges' appointment," said Shrestha.
Talking about backlog cases at the Supreme Court, Shrestha said the major reason behind backlogs is the delay in appointment of justices.
"We have been saying that the appointment of justices should be free of political interference but this has become impossible because of the existing structure of the Judicial Council," said Shrestha.
