KATHMANDU, Jan 9: While taking exception to the joint statement of four former chief justices of the Supreme Court, Prime Minister K P Oli has accused them of threatening justices at the apex court. 

Addressing a function organized by his faction of the Nepal Communist Party(NCP) in the capital on Saturday, Prime Minister Oli vented ire against the former chief justices for issuing the statement on sub judice case in the court. "Is this justified to announce a verdict from the streets just because they [former chief justices] once were employees of the judiciary?" he asked. 

"One lawyer reportedly threatened to pass a verdict keeping in view of the present and future. What does that mean? [Is this not tantamount to] Threatening to justices? the prime minister further vented his ire.

Prime Minister Oli also criticized some legal experts arguing that the constitutional bench cannot make a decision whether the government's move to dissolve the parliament was legitimate. "Which constitution tells this," he said. "Judiciary will not be influenced by any such paid people. The judiciary will not reinstate the parliament."

The remarks of Prime Minister Oli comes a day after four former Chief Justices of the Supreme Court issued a joint statement, terming Oli’s decision to dissolve the parliament ‘unconstitutional’. Former Chief Justices Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, Anup Raj  Sharma, Kalyan Shrestha, and Sushila Karki in the joint statement maintained that the dissolution of the 275-member lower house of the federal parliament on December 20  by Prime Minister Oli goes against the spirit of the Constitution of Nepal.

The former chief justices have said that the abrupt dissolution of the parliament has invited an abnormal political and constitutional deadlock in the country even as there are clear constitutional provisions that envision stability of the parliament and the government. They also expressed firm belief that the apex court should be able to address the issue within the jurisdiction of the constitution and constitutionalism as any contemporary events or special circumstances cannot alter the fundamental norms and values of constitution. 

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House dissolution is unconstitutional, say four ex-Chief Justices

 
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