The SC has scheduled to begin the hearing on a case filed by the government to vacate the stay order on Wednesday. The hearing was deferred on Sunday, following the death of senior advocate Mukunda Regmi. [break]
The stay order had reinstated the eight brigadiers two weeks after they were pensioned off by the government against the Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal’s recommendation to extend their tenure.
“I have already permitted the government to hire private lawyers,” said Attorney General Raghab Lal Baidhya, who is the chief legal advisor to the government and is pleading on behalf of the government in the case.
One of the government-hired lawyers said on condition of anonymity that there was a political reason behind hiring such a large number of private lawyers though there were competent government attorneys to defend the government during the Wednesday’s hearing. Generally, the government attorneys defend the government in any court of law in cases involving the government. But, the government sometimes hires private lawyers when it feels government lawyers are either not competent enough or insufficient to defend it.
“The Defense Ministry has drawn a conclusion that the SC judges perceive that all lawyers are in favor of the stay order. The ministry now wants to show and influence the court that there are also lawyers who are against the order,” said one of the lawyers hired by the ministry, requesting anonymity.
The ministry reached the conclusion, as prominent lawyers like senior advocates Ganesh Raj Sharma and Harihar Dahal, advocates Shambhu Thapa, Bal Krishna Neupane, former Deputy Attorney General Narendra Raj Pathak, Dr Bhimarjun Acharya, Tika Ram Bhattarai, among others, are pleading on behalf of the brigadier generals.
Myrepublica.com’s repeated attempts to contact Shreedhar Prasad Pokharel, spokesperson for the ministry, for comments failed.
General Secretary of Nepal Bar Association Raman Kumar Shrestha and advocate Tulsi Bhatta, both are close to the Maoists, helped the ministry to prepare the list of the lawyers as requested by Defense Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal and Law Minister Dev Prasad Gurung. Shrestha confirmed it.
Besides Shrestha and Bhatta, senior advocates Krishna Prasad Bhandari and Shyam Kharel, advocates Madhav Banskota, Krishna Sapkota, Satish Krishna Kharel, Govinda Bandi, Sabita Bhadari, among others are pleading on behalf of the government.
kiran@myrepublica.com
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