PHSC puts off decision on CJ nominee Joshee

SLC certificate under question

KATHMANDU, July 27: The Parliamentary Hearings Special Committee (PHSC) has prolonged its decision making in the hearings for chief justice nominee Deepak Raj Joshee, after questions arose over his School Leaving Certificate.

According to PHSC members, the committee meeting slated for Friday has been postponed for Sunday after some committee members demanded time for further investigations into his educational certificates.

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However, PHSC ad-hoc Chairman Laxman Lal Karna told Republica that he postponed the meeting after the House of Representatives meeting on Friday dragged on. “We had convened the PHSC meeting at 3 p.m., expecting that the House meeting would conclude a few hours before that. But when the House meeting became prolonged we postponed our meeting for the next working day,” he said.

Meanwhile, multiple members of the hearings committee informed that they found some discrepency while checking the symbol number from the SLC certificate submitted to the committee by Joshee on Thursday . “We have found some conflicting clues about his claim and the official records concerning his SLC certificate. The committee may form a sub-committee to further study the documents,” said a lawmaker requesting anonymity.

Refuting allegations concerning his educational certificates, Joshee had submitted a copy of his progress report to the PHSC during the hearings Thursday. The hearings committee meeting adjourned till Friday without reaching any decision. Lawmakers had sought time for further discussions .

According to sources, some ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmakers requested postponement of the meeting, claiming to have found some new clues about Joshee's educational certificates.

NCP and the Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) have a two-third majority in the 15-member committee and this is enough to reject any hearings recommendations. But there has been no case of rejection of any hearings recommendations by the parliamentary committee so far.