KATHMANDU, April 3: The Judicial Council on Tuesday recommended five names for appointment as justices at the Supreme Court. A meeting of the council led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana recommended two career judges and three lawyers for appointment in the five justice posts that are vacant.

The five names recommended for the SC posts include high court judges Prakash Dhungana and Sushmalata Mathema and senior advocates Hari Phuyal, Kumar Regmi and Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma. Dhungana and Mathema currently serve as the chief judge at Patan High Court and Surkhet High Court respectively. Phuyal, considered close to the ruling Nepal Communist Party, served as attorney general in the then UML government led by Prime Minister KP Oli in 2016. Regmi is senior advocate at the SC, while Sharma is a relative of former chief justice Damodar Sharma. The nominees will have to face the parliamentary hearings committee before their appointment.

The JC also recommended 18 names for appointments at vacant judges positions at the high courts. Among those recommended for judge at the high courts include Bal Mukunda Dawadi, who had given a controversial verdict in the Godamchaur rape case.

In January 2017, chief district judge Dawadi had ordered the release of three men involved in the rape of a woman without bail despite clear evidence against the people named in the charge sheet.

Other persons recommended to the post of high court judges include Deputy Attorney General Kiran Paudel, SC Registrar Mahendra Nath Upadhyay, Secretary at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Ramesh Dhakal, former appellate court additional justice Neelam Paudel, judge at Sarlahi District Court Rajesh Kumar Kafle and Rautahat District Court judge Lekhanath Dhakal. Similarly, Chitwan District Court judge Kul Prasad Sharma, Bhaktapur District Court judge Mohammad Junaid Aaazad, and Parsa District Court judge Nagendra Lal Karna are the others recommended for high court judges.

The list also includes seven advocates including Jagat Bahadur Thapa, Sarala Kumari Pandey, Bimala Subedi, Renuka Shah, Daal Kumar Khadka, Ujjwal Shukla and Nava Raj Thapaliya. The judges will be appointed by the chief justice.

 
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