Supreme Court cannot overturn decision taken by President: Office of President

KATHMANDU, June 17: Arguing that the parliament was dissolved as per the constitutional provisions upon receiving recommendation from the prime minister, the Office of President has argued that the Supreme Court cannot overturn any decision taken by the president within the bounds of the existing constitutional provisions.

In her reply sent through her office to the Supreme Court why she chose to dissolve parliament instead of accepting the claim of Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba for the post of prime minister, President Bidya Devi Bhandari has also claimed that the apex court cannot pass any mandamus order to appoint a person as the prime minister and issuing any such order is unconstitutional in itself. 

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NC President Deuba had submitted signatures of 146 lawmakers, staking claim for the post of prime minister. The Office of President has stated that Deuba's claim for the post of prime minister was not recognized as he was able to secure the support of only two political parties, the serial number of signatures of lawmakers he presented to the Office of President was found not in proper order and the party-affiliation of a number of lawmakers  included in the list was not clear. 

The Office of President also claimed that Prime Minister KP Oli claimed to have the support of lawmakers, who had extended their support to Deuba's bid for the prime ministerial position.  

President Bhandari in the reply sent to through the Secretary at the Office of President has maintained that she decided to dissolve parliament as there was no credible ground that both Deuba and Oli would be able to secure the requisite majority votes in parliament.

Earlier, the apex court had sought written replies from the Office of Prime Minister and Office of President explaining their decisions to dissolve parliament within seven days. Both Prime Minister Oli and President Bhandari submitted their written replies within seven days after they received the order of the apex court.