KATHMANDU, May 13: The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a show cause order in response to a challenge against the eligibility of outgoing Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari, appointed to the government-formed Governor Recommendation Committee.
A single bench of justice Binod Sharma issued the show cause order.
Advocate Nabin Dhital filed the writ petition on May 11, arguing that the government's appointment of Adhikari to the three-member recommendation committee was unlawful. The petition asserts that any recommendations made by the committee with Adhikari's involvement would be illegal.
The petition claims that the government acted illegally by appointing Adhikari as a former governor to the recommendation committee while he was still in office when the committee was formed.
SC issues show cause order on writ petition filed against gover...
Defendants named in the petition include the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Finance, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister (who chairs the recommendation committee for the governor's appointment), Dr. Bishwanath Paudel (a member of the committee), Adhikari himself, and the committee's secretariat at the Ministry of Finance and Nepal Rastra Bank's Central Office.
Justice Sharma's bench has summoned both parties for further discussion on whether to issue an interim order.
Adhikari retired as Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank on April 7 after reaching the mandatory retirement age. However, the government had formed the Governor Recommendation Committee on March 25, with Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel as its chair. After former governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai resigned from the committee, Adhikari was appointed in his place.
The petitioner argues that Adhikari's appointment immediately following his retirement is unlawful, creating a conflict of interest. The petition highlights that the committee had already started its work while Adhikari was still serving as governor.
The petitioner demands that the court prevent the implementation of any recommendations made by the committee with Adhikari's illegal appointment, requesting that any decisions already acted upon be annulled. The petitioner also seeks an interim order to stop the committee from making further recommendations.
Additionally, the petition disputes the government's criteria for appointing and nominating officials to public bodies under the Ministry of Finance, stating that they should not apply to the appointment of the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. The writ clarifies that Nepal Rastra Bank is an autonomous institution, not a public body under the Ministry of Finance, and thus the criteria should not apply.
The petitioner further argues that the writ did not specify under which law these criteria were issued and calls for their annulment. The petition insists that Nepal Rastra Bank's own law, which governs the appointment of the governor, should apply instead.
The petitioner has requested the annulment of the order that places Nepal Rastra Bank under the Ministry of Finance in the criteria's schedule and seeks an interim order to halt the implementation of these criteria for Nepal Rastra Bank.
