KATHMANDU, Sept 21: Issuing the full text of its judgment on the writ petition filed against the administration of the oath of office and secrecy to President Bidya Devi Bhandari by the then Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli, the Supreme Court said on Thursday that the oath was fully legal.
A single bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla had handed down the verdict on April 17 by scrapping the writ petition filed by advocate Hemmani Subedi and Narayan Kharel but the full text of the judgment was released on Thursday.
Stating that the petitioners could not produce any concrete evidence that Parajuli had administered the oath of office and secrecy to President Bhandari after receiving his retirement letter from Judicial Council Secretary Nripadhoj Niroula, the bench decided to scrap the petition.
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The bench also decided that there was no need for even issuing a show cause notice to the defendants—the Office of the President, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairman of the Upper House, the then Chief Justice Parajuli and the Opposition Leader.
The petitioners had challenged the oath, calling it illegal, They argued that Parajuli had already been relieved from the post of chief justice when he administered the oath to the head of state.
The petitioners on March 28 had filed the petition demanding that the president should take the oath again from a legitimate new chief justice.
Parajuli had administered the oath of office and secrecy to President Bhandari on March 14. However, the Judicial Council had sent a letter to Parajuli earlier in the day informing him that he had been relieved of the position on age ground seven months ago.
Exercising his legal authority given by the Judicial Council Act, 1992, Judicial Council Secretary Nirpa Dhawj Niroula had on March 14 sent a letter to the then CJ Parajuli stating that he had retired seven months ago due the constitutional age limit.
