SC justices’ obsession with govt-provided residential quarters

KATHMANDU, Aug 18: The government has decided to spend Rs 30 million to provide housing facilities for all Supreme Court (SC) justices at Pulchowk in Lalitpur. Currently, only the Chief Justice gets the privilege to live in government-provided quarters. However, now this privilege will be available to all SC justices, who will be housed in the Ministers’ Quarters at Pulchowk.

The ministers currently residing in the Pulchowk Quarters will be moved to new residences built in Bhaisepati. Five ministers have already relocated to Bhaisepati, and the remaining are preparing to move. According to Mani Ram Gelal, secretary at the Ministry of Urban Development, all ministers living in Pulchowk will be moved to Bhaisepati by the end of Bhadra (by mid-September), and the SC justices will be relocated to Pulchowk by the Dashain festival (October) at the latest.

The responsibility for this task has been given to the Federal Secretariat Construction and Management Office under the urban development ministry. According to an employee at this office, once the Pulchowk Ministers’ Quarters are vacated, the buildings will be repaired and painted.

New furniture, sofas, beds, mattresses, and curtains will be purchased. Sources estimate that repairing the 14 buildings constructed in Pulchowk in 2028 BS will cost at least Rs 1 million each, while the five buildings constructed in 2045 BS will cost a bit less. Overall, it is expected to cost around Rs 30 million.

Before deciding to build residences for SC justices in Pulchowk, the government had initially planned to build a well-furnished guest house for high-profile foreign visitors there. Currently, such guests are accommodated at the Soaltee Hotel due to the lack of a suitable government residence.

An urban development ministry employee stated that while most countries have special guest houses for foreign dignitaries, Nepal does not have such a government building. Initially, the government decided to build a guest house at Pulchowk, but this decision was later changed, possibly to please the SC justices.

The government decided in 2023 to provide the Pulchowk-based Ministers’ Quarters to SC justices after the new residences for ministers are completed in Bhaisepati. Secretary Gelal confirmed that the decision is now being implemented.

Regarding expenses, Umesh Chaudhary, an engineer at the Federal Secretariat Construction and Management Office, said that the SC will bear all the costs of housing the justices in the Pulchowk-based quarters. The ministry has sent a letter to this effect to the Office. However, the decision on who will bear the operational and management costs has not yet been made. Currently, 32 employees are assigned to manage the Ministers’ Quarters in Pulchowk.

According to the Office, the annual water bill for the Ministers’ Quarters in Pulchowk is around Rs 4.2 million. The government covers costs for furniture, sofas, beds, mattresses, televisions, electricity, and water.

The Federal Secretariat Construction and Management Office spends over Rs 100 million annually on managing the residences of six high-profile individuals and ministers. Providing government housing for SC justices is expected to add an additional 10 to 20 million rupees annually in management and operational costs.

There are 21 positions of justices at the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice. The current residential buildings at the Pulchowk-based Quarters will not be enough for all SC justices. Therefore, a new building is being constructed.

The Pulchowk-based Ministers’ Quarters is spread on 72 ropanis of land. An employee at the Federal Secretariat Construction and Management Office mentioned that all SC justices currently have luxurious residences in Kathmandu, and none of them lack housing. Providing government residences to SC justices is expected to increase the government’s expenses. Therefore, it is said that converting the Pulchowk-based Ministers’ Quarters into a state guest house for foreign heads of state and government officials visiting Kathmandu would be more appropriate.