KATHMANDU, Aug 7: Main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has condemned the decision of the Parliamentary Hearings Committee (PHC) to disqualify Deepak Raj Joshee as the chief justice (CJ) of the Supreme Court (SC).

Speaking at the meeting of the House of Representatives on Monday, NC lawmakers accused the ruling parties of rejecting Joshee's nomination without any strong ground. They demanded that the Constitutional Council (CC) and its head Prime Minister K P Oli should take the moral responsibility of the consequences of its recommendations.

“People are asking whether the Prime Minister should take the responsibility of his decision after his party's lawmakers rejected the CC's recommendations,” NC leader Gyanendra Karki said. He further added that the rejection of Joshee as the CJ was clearly an instance of interference into the independent judiciary. “Rejection of CJ's nomination just because the ruling force has a two-thirds majority is a disgrace,” he added.

Karki said that it should be a matter of investigation if Joshee's academic certificates are fake as accused by the ruling party members in the hearings committee. “The international community is asking that how a person who has been serving the judiciary since 1990 can be disqualified,” he said.

Lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties blamed each other over the NC's objection and the PHC decision.

Ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker Khagraj Adhikari rose from his seat multiple times while Karki was speaking in the meeting for objection on the latter's statement. After Karki's address, Adhikari demanded that the speech be erased from the House records claiming that it was against the parliamentary rule.

Another NCP lawmaker Birodh Khatiwada accused the NC of trying to confine the two-thirds majority strength in parliament by one-third force. Arguing that the opposition raised the issue in a wrong manner, Khatiwada drew the attention of NC to respect the majority system.

Independent lawmaker Hridayesh Tripathi stated that the decision of the House committee cannot be an issue of discussion in the full House until the respective committee submits its annual report to the House.

NC Whip Pushpa Bhusal argued that the committee should have investigated if there was any confusion over Joshee's academic certificates. She further claimed that the CC should be held responsible for the rejection of its recommendations.