Constitutional Bench proceeds with hearing writs against House dissolution
The Supreme Court Constitutional Bench formed to hear the writs against dissolution of House of Representatives has resumed proceedings of the case, today.
KATHMANDU, June 23: Hearing on the writ petitions registered against the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR) is scheduled to resume from Wednesday.
The Constitutional Bench headed by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR, which refused to issue an interim order as demanded by the petitioners, on June 9, asked the defendants including Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, the Office of President and the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) to submit a written response by Tuesday.
PM Oli and President Bidya Devi Bhandari submitted the written response to the Supreme Court earlier on June 17.
As many as 26 writ petitions have been filed at the apex court demanding it reinstate the 275-member lower house of parliament, while four other petitions have asked the court to issue an order to appoint KP Sharma Oli as the prime minister as per the Article 76 (5) of the Constitution of Nepal.
The five-member Constitutional Bench comprising Justices Dipak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Anand Mohan Shrestha along with CJ Rana himself has been hearing the case.
It is to be noted that President Bidya Devi Bhandari, at the recommendation of the KP Oli-led Cabinet, dissolved the House on May 22. It is the second time in five months that the lower house got dissolved. Earlier, the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench had restored the House, which was dissolved on December 20, 2020, on March 7.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's lawyers have expressed dissent over the reconstitution of Constitutional Bench by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana to hear the House dissolution case.
KATHMANDU, May 30: Hearing over the writ petitions, which were filed against the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR), at the Constitutional Bench was concluded for Sunday.
The five-member Bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher has been hearing the petitions since Friday.
Chief Justice Rana on Friday formed the Bench including the justices of the Supreme Court (SC) --- Dipak Kumar Karki, Dr Aanand Mohan Bhattarai, Tej Bahadur KC and Bam Kumar Shrestha--- under his leadership.
As many as 30 writ petitions were filed at the apex court terming President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s move to dissolve the House as unconstitutional.
Sunday’s hearing, however, did not enter into the issue of House dissolution. It witnessed a heated debate between the lawyers of both the plaintiffs and defendants over the issue of the formation of the Constitutional Bench. As petitioners raised questions over the formation of the Bench, Chief Justice Rana allotted one hour each to both the sides to debate on the issue.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari, upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, dissolved parliament on May 22 as per Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal.
KATHMANDU, May 28: Hearing over the writ petitions registered at the Supreme Court (SC) against the ‘unconstitutional’ dissolution of the House of Representatives is underway at the Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR-led five-member Constitutional Bench on Friday afternoon.
Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR formed a five-member Constitutional Bench under his leadership. The other four members of the Constitutional Bench include the justices Dipak Kumar Karki, Dr Aanand Mohan Bhattarai, Tej Bahadur KC and Bam Kumar Shrestha.
Petitioners and legal eagles, while pleading over the case, argued that the recent dissolution of the House had procedural error. Pleading against the dissolution, advocate Santosh Bhandari demanded the apex court reinstate the HoR as it was dissolved without completing the constitutional procedure of new government formation.
Another advocate, Sujan Nepal said that the prime minister elected as per Article 76 (3) can not skip Article 76 (4) and move on to Clause 5. “Article 76 (5) can be implemented only if the prime minister resigns or loses trust vote in parliament as per Clause 5,” he argued.
Another petitioner, advocate Shailendra Prasad Ambedkar said that the prime minister, who has yet to win a vote from parliament, can not dissolve the House.
Similarly, Mohana Ansari and Raj Kumar Suwal also pleaded against the House dissolution.
Of the 30 petitions registered at the Supreme Court (SC), 19 were heard at a single-bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR on Thursday. All of them have also been forwarded to the Constitutional Bench. Writ petitioners have demanded the SC issue an interim order to restore parliament. Friday’s bench will decide whether or not to issue the interim order as sought by the petitioners.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari, upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, dissolved parliament on May 22 as per Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal.
24 writ petitions registered at Supreme Court against House dissolution, 4 others in favor of PM Oli
KATHMANDU, May 25: As many as 24 writ petitions have been registered at the Supreme Court (SC) against the ‘unconstitutional’ dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR).
Following the House dissolution on May 22 by President Bidya Devi Bhandari at the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, 146 outgoing lawmakers belonging to the opposition alliance reached the apex court in-person on Monday and registered a writ petition demanding House restoration and appointment of Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba. The petitioners claimed that the PM KP Oli-led government does not have a legitimacy to remain in power as the president had already called the MPs for new government formation.
According to the Supreme Court administration, as many as 28 writ petitions were filed at the court as of Monday including 24 against the House dissolution move. Four other petitions, however, were registered in favor of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
While nine of the 28 writ petitions will be forwarded to the Constitutional Bench, 19 others will be settled through the general bench.
When will hearing begin?
According to the SC administration, all the petitions will be entered into the computer record on Tuesday. There is public holiday on Wednesday on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti. Hearing at the Constitution Bench does not take place on Thursday. Therefore, hearing on the nine writ petitions including the one by 146 lawmakers is likely to begin on Friday.
Hearing at the general bench over the 19 writ petitions will begin Thursday onwards, according to a source at the SC.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved parliament at the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, as per the Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal. Earlier, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba laid a claim for a new government with the support of 149 lawmakers as the President had called upon the members of the lower house of parliament to stake their claim for the new government formation as per Article 76 (5). Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who had opted not to take a trust vote in parliament as per Article 76 (4), also staked a claim for a new government. President Bhandari, however, rejected both the claims.
