Paving the way for the recruitment by the Nepal Army (NA), the SC division bench of Justices Top Bahadur Magar and Krishna Prasad Upadhaya said NA´s fresh advertisement of vacancies for engineers, doctors and various other technical posts is appropriate since such posts involve humanitarian services.
Responding to a writ petition filed by five lawyers representing the NGO Inhured International, the apex court said staying NA´s fresh advertisement would not be appropriate from the point of view of balance of convenience.
"Going by the principle of balance of convenience, it is not appropriate to issue an interim order against NA´s move to recruit for 271 technical posts," reads the SC ruling.
The petitioners had sought a stay order, stating that NA´s fresh move violates the Interim Constitution and the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA).
The SC had been holding hearings on weather to issue a stay order against NA´s going ahead with filling up the technical posts.
Lawyers had moved the apex court after NA on April 19 announced 271 vacancies for technical posts and called for applications from eligible Nepali citizens, triggering yet another political and constitutional row since the last 13 months.
Publishing the vacancies in the state-owned Gorkhapatra daily on April 19, NA had said the fresh recruitment would not cross its strength recorded at the time of signing of the historic CPA in November 2006. The strength of the national army then was 95,753.
NA had begun the new recruitment drive despite a one-year-old Supreme Court stay order which was issued in another case and is still in force. In a recruitment controversy in March last year, the apex court had ordered the government and the army not to take further recruits until a final verdict was handed down.
The apex court had also ordered the government and NA not to carry out any recruitment in violation of the CPA and the Interim Constitution until the controversy was settled by the court. The SC has yet to issue the final verdict.
But the apex court on Wednesday said that it has refused to issue a stay order in the fresh case because the vacancies are for technical posts meant for humanitarian service. "From the point of view of humanitarian sensitivity as well, the court cannot issue an interim order stopping NA from filling up technical posts," the division bench ruling further states.
The government had fixed a ceiling of 95,753 for total NA personnel at the time of signing of the CPA.
NA, however, has already said the fresh recruitment does not violate the CPA.
NA defended itself, stating that its fresh move to fill vacant posts is a regular process for keeping the institution going and does not violate any order or provision, be that of the court or the CPA.
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