At a meeting with legal correspondents, SC Justice Prakash Wasti spoke about newly-appointed Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi´s will and commitment towards combating corruption cases without delay. [break]
“We have already met representatives of the Nepal Bar Association and the attorney general. The new chief justice has already said that he is committed to expediting corruption cases without delay and dealing with any submission to undue influence,” Justice Wasti said.
Wasti, Joint Registrars Nahakul Subedi and Shreekanta Paudel, Deputy Registrar Hemanta Rawal and other high-ranking SC officials sought suggestions from journalists for settling corruption cases at the earliest.
Legal correspondents present on the occasion suggested to the SC justice and other officials to set up a separate bench to handle corruption cases exclusively, discourage anyone from trying to influence such cases, activate the Bar Council, discourage the trend of deferring hearings in corruption cases and tackle other problems that have long been contributing to delay in disposal of corruption cases.
The same day, Attorney General Yubraj Shangraula also held a separate meeting with legal correspondents and expressed interest in expediting corruption cases, with the introduction of a calendar of action if necessary so that implementation takes place as expected.
“We will leave no stone unturned in combating corruption, expediting the backlog of cases and tackling other problems at the judiciary and the AG´s office,” he said to the journalists.
Shangraula said the AG´s office lacks human and budgetary resources. He also demanded that the government provide required human resources and an adequate budget to tackle case backlog and chronic problems facing the judiciary.
“We have decided not to file any court application seeking deferral of a case unless there is an urgency,” he said, adding, “I will take stern action against those I find influencing court cases and proceedings,” he added.
Sangraula further said that his office has already implemented a five-year action plan. He also shared his plan for restructuring the AG´s office.
“Now onwards, deputy attorney generals will lead the cases to be take up at all benches,” he said, adding, “We have also decided to appear before the bench with notes on pleadings and we will start this trend from the vital court cases.”
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