A JC meeting scheduled for Friday is likely to decide the fate of six judges, whom two different probe committees found culpable for incompetence, misconduct and poor performance, said a source. [break]
"Friday´s meeting is most likely to decide the fate of the judges. However, it largely depends on the personal decision of Communications Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who also looks after the Ministry of Law and Justice" a Supreme Court (SC) source told Republica.
According to the SC source, the JC is all set to sack judges Tej Bahadur Karki and Om Prasad Subedi. Four judges-- Binod Sharma, Pashupati Acharya, Sita Prasad Pokharel and Achyut Bista --are also in the list for punishment. Sharma, Acharya, Pokharel and Bista are district court judges.
A probe committee led by Supreme Court Justice Bal Ram KC had found Judge Karki guilty of a controversial decision to release many-times arrested notorious culprits Rohit Paliwan Agrawal, Bhimsen Pandit and Sanjaya Shrestha on very low bail instead of sending them to jail.
Karki´s controversial decision to release Agrawal, Pandit and Shrestha was disclosed following the abduction of Dr Bhaktaman Shrestha nearly a year ago. Police had found that Agrawal was the mastermind behind Dr Shrestha´s abduction. Agrawal´s accomplices had told police that they bribed the judges in the past to get released on bail and abducted Dr Shrestha to recover the money invested in the bribes.
The public prosecutor had sought three to seven years imprisonment for Agrawal and three others. But Judge Karki, in his capacity as Kathmandu district court judge, released them on low bail. As per the legal provisions, a foreign national has to be sent to jail until the next decision of the court if the public prosecutor has sought imprisonment of more than six months.
Another probe report prepared by SC Justice Top Bahadur Magar indicted Pokhara Appellate Court Judge Subedi on charges of bad conduct and incompetence. The report states that Subedi repeatedly remained absent from his office without informing his senior.
"Subedi not only remained absent from the appellate court time and again but also committed serious mistake in signing the attendance register at the Revenue Tribunal in Pokhara at a time when he was on leave from the appellate court," reads the report, adding, "He was assigned to the revenue tribunal every Tuesday. Facts prove that he was absent from the appellate court but wrongfully signed the attendance at the revenue tribunal. It shows how dishonest he was. It is also proof of how he failed to discharge his duties as required by the law."
Subedi is also found to have used his signature at the Revenue Tribunal in Pokhara while he was in Kathmandu. "As a law student, Subedi signed the attendance book at Kathmandu School of Law (KSL). It has been found that he put his signature in the attendance book at the revenue tribunal on the same day he was attending class at KSL."
The probe report states that Subedi is found not to have been performing his duties even on days when he was presented at the appellate court.
The probe committee has recommended that the JC sack Subedi on three grounds--- lack of honesty, misconduct and poor performance.
Of the total of 70 judges against whom complaints have been lodged, the JC is finally taking action against four. Based on the findings of the probe committee led by SC Justice Magar, the JC is cautioning four judges--- Sharma, Acharya, Pokharel and Bista.
They have been accused of incompetence in the discharge of their duties. "Cautioning a judge is not an ordinary measure." A judges who have once been cautioned by the JC would be sacked automatically the next time if he or she commits a simple mistake and receives a second cautionary notice," states the JC Act.
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