KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 15

The four chief justices, on whom contempt-of-court case had been filed, have furnished their written response to the Supreme Court today.

Cases were filed on January 27 against former chief justices - Kalyan Shrestha, Sushila Karki, Anup Raj Sharma, and Min Bahadur Rayamajhi - for condemning the government's move to dissolve the House of Representatives (HoR). Advocates Dhanjit Basnet and Lochan Bhattarai had filed separate cases against the four former CJs.

Bhattarai argued in his petition that remarks made by the four former chief justices against the House dissolution were contemptuous since the matter was sub-judice and such remarks undermine the independence of the judiciary.

Issuing a joint statement on January 8, the four former chief justices stated that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's move of dismantling the HoR was an unconstitutional act and that the court should quash the government's decision. The former CJs, in their statement, had stressed that the House was dissolved stepping on articles that are not provisioned by the Constitution.

Prime Minister Oli, on December 20, recommended the dissolution of House of Representatives which was immediately approved by the head-of-state. This was followed by the announcement of mid-term polls in April-May, 2021.