KATHMANDU, June 11: Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Sher Bahadur Tamang who is also an ex-officio member of the Judicial Council (JC) said on Sunday that the government wants to slash the number of positions of judges.

“There is no need to appoint more judges because the incumbent judges do not have enough workload,” Tamang shared with journalists on Sunday. 

Minister Tamang also gave an example saying that the government has decided to keep only four additional inspectors general (AIGs) in Nepal Police and two in the Armed Police Force. Tamang was talking to journalists after a function organized by a group called Natural Resources Conflict Transformation Centre-Nepal. 

“You can see those judges working at the Kathmandu District Court who may not have sufficient workload after 2 pm everyday,” Tamang said, adding, “Why should we appoint more judges in such a situation?” 

Tamang, however, dismissed the allegation that the delay in appointing the chief justice has created any major problem. According to him, acting chief justice can exercise the authorities of the chief justice and can appoint judges at lower courts by summoning the meeting of the Judicial Council. “Therefore, no serious problem has arisen in the judiciary due to the delay in the appointment of a chief justice,” he said.

Currently, there are two positions of judges lying vacant at the Supreme Court, 12 at high courts and around two dozen at the various district courts. 

Tamang also added that the chief justice appointment process would begin before the formation of the parliamentary hearings special committee very soon. “We need to think equally seriously as we have been talking about the provision of appointing the CJ within a month of the position falling vacant because we should abide by the provisions of the constitution.” Stating that the discretionary power given to the judges is being misused, Tamang informed Republica that the apex court, the government and the law commission have been carrying out a study for controlling such power misuse.

 
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