The meeting of the Constitutional Council (CC), which is the final authority for naming the next candidate, has not yet been scheduled. The CC has also failed to follow the working procedures of the Parliamentary Hearings Special Committee.
As per procedure, the CC is required to send the new name to the Parliamentary Hearings Committee at least 20 days prior to the retirement of the incumbent chief justice. The committee has to complete its hearings 15 days before the new chief justice is appointed. Chief Justice Min Bahadur Rayamajhee is retiring on December 12.
According to senior government officials, the CC should have recommended a candidate for the new chief justice at least one week ago.
“The CC has failed to abide by the committee´s procedure according to which the hearings process for recommending the new chief justice has to be completed within 15 days. And that process should be completed before the serving chief justice retires,” Tikaram Bhattarai, a constitutional lawyer, told myrepublica.com.
“This is not good practice. It shows that the CC itself is violating the law and parliamentary regulations.” Bhattarai added.
The CC meeting has been deferred twice as main opposition party leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is one of the CC members, did not attend. “We have not officially decided to boycott the CC meeting. Our chairman might not have been able to attend due to a busy schedule,” Dinanath Sharma, UCPN (Maoist) spokesperson, told myrepublica.com.
The CC has also faltered in the tradition of recommending the new chief justice 20 days before the retirement of the sitting chief justice, as per a provision in its working procedure.
“We sent the list of senior Supreme Court justices, who are eligible for the post of chief justice, to the CC 25 days back as per CC working procedures,” said Jeevan Hari Adhikary, Secretary at the Judicial Council (JC), adding, “This means that the recommendation for new chief justice should also come at least 20 days before the retirement of the current chief justice.”
The JC had sent the names of five senior SC justices to the CC on November 17. SC Justices Anup Raj Sharma, Ram Prasad Shrestha, Kheel Raj Regmee, Balaram KC and Top Bahadur Magar were recommended by the JC. Among them, Justice Sharma is the senior-most.
“Although I am one of the CC members, I have still not been informed about the CC meeting,” Law Minister Prem Bahadur Singh said. He, however, blamed Dahal for the delay.
The CC comprises the prime minister, the speaker, the leader of main opposition party, two ministers nominated by the PM, and the law minister.
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