SC halts oath of three appointed Nat’l Assembly members

Published On: February 25, 2018 06:57 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Feb 25: Supreme Court has halted oath of office of three members of National Assembly appointed by the incumbent government.

Issuing an interim order by a single bench of Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut on Sunday, the apex court has ordered Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and Federal Parliament Secretariat to postpone the oath of newly appointed NA members Yubaraj Khatiwada, Bimala Poudel Rai and Ram Narayan Bidari and has called petitioners and defendants to be present at the court for the further discussion into the issue on March 4.

The upper house members are scheduled to take oath of office on March 4 itself.

Three nominees of the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government for the National Assembly had moved the Supreme Court against the new government for setting aside their nominations and appointing new members to the upper house.

Gopal Basnet, Krishna Prasad Paudel and Chandani Joshi, who were recommended for appointment as upper house members by the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government, jointly filed a writ petition at the apex court on Friday demanding a mandamus order annulling the new appointments made by the current government and appointing themselves to the posts.

The Office of President, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Federal Parliament Secretariat and National Assembly were mentioned defendants in the case.

On February 20, Oli-led government, overturning the previous government's recommendations for National Assembly members had instead recommended Khatiwada, Bidari and Rai. On the same day later, President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed them as members of the upper house. Nepali Congress had taken exception to the new government's decision and said that such move by the government doesn't set a good precedent.