SC revokes its earlier decision on 30-year service limit for Nepal Police officers

Published On: August 30, 2024 06:50 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

21 Nepal Police officers set to retire on Sunday

KATHMANDU, Aug 30: The Supreme Court (SC) has lifted its earlier interim order regarding the 30-year service limit for Nepal Police officers.

A division bench of Justices Sharanga Subedi and Binod Sharma quashed the previous SC order in response to the government's petition to vacate it. With this new decision, 21 senior police officers of Nepal Police are now set to retire on Sunday, September 1.

Among the 21 officers, Senior Superintendent of Police Jeevan Kumar Shrestha and others had earlier filed a writ petition in the apex court, challenging the enforcement of the 30-year service limit in Nepal Police.

The officers registered the writ on August 21, while the government submitted the vacate application on August 28. The Supreme Court will now consider both petitions together to give its final verdict on the issue.

Previously, a single bench of Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal had issued an interim order preventing the government from enforcing the 30-year service limit in the police force. Following this, the government, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, filed a vacate application, arguing that the interim order was unenforceable.

Earlier, SC had refused to issue an interim order on the writ petition filed by the Armed Police Force (APF) officials, demanding the removal of the 30-year service limit. There was an expectation that SC would remove the 30-year service limit also in the APF following the similar order by a single bench of Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal in case of Nepal Police. The order prohibited the transfer of the officers, leading to problems with over 90 police officers scheduled to retire on September 1.

A single bench of Justice Saranga Subedi, however, rejected an interim order as demanded by the petitioners. The bench ordered that a written response be sought from the defendants.

Twelve APF officers including DIG Abhikumar Khatri had filed the writ petition.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had appealed against the court's decision to not implement a 30-year service limit to Nepal Police.