At a meeting with the Judicial Council held on Thursday at the constitutional body´s office, representatives of NBA said that those appointed to the Supreme Court (SC) should be below 60 years and those appointed at the appellate courts should be below 51. [break]
As per the existing law, the age limit for SC justices is 65, while 63 is the limit for judges at appellate courts. An SC justice has a five-year tenure while an appellate court judge has 12 years.
“If a justice retires before completing his/her full term, a question mark can araise over the independence of the verdicts issued by that justice,” said NBA General Secretary Sunil Pokhrel.
According to Pokhrel, they also urged the JC to give priority to their candidates while making recommendations for appointment as justices.
NBA has already forwarded a list of 15 advocates including its incumbent president, Hari Krishna Karki, to the Judicial Council. Karki has declared that he will not accept the post of justice at the present time. Altogether nine posts of justices out of the 15 are vacant at the SC, including the chief justice.
Similarly, NBA suggested that the Judicial Council not make appointments to the district courts until their representation is ensured.
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