KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 16

The Supreme Court has ordered the government to distribute copies of the constitution (pocket size) free of cost to all households through Law Book Management Committee with the help of local levels.

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Releasing the full text of its verdict delivered in the case filed by Advocate Bikash Bhattarai against the government, the apex court ruled that people who had participated in the constitution making process directly or indirectly expected to see the provisions in the constitution and whether or not their suggestions were incorporated in the constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly elected by the people. Stating that distributing the copies of the constitution to all households was the state's public duty, the top court said the government needed to upload the constitution on a certain website so that people could easily access and download it. The verdict was delivered by a division bench of Justice Sushmalata Mathema and Hari Prasad Phuyal on September 10.

The SC also ordered the government to publicise the main features of the constitution through mass media.It ordered the government to ensure that copies of the constitution printed for long-term use of readers are available at the lowest cost in all districts and local levels.

Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs will have to submit a report on the execution of this order within six months of the date the defendants get the copies of the court order.

The SC said as stakeholders took part in the constitution making process directly or indirectly, it was natural for them to know what provisions are contained in the constitution.

The SC said that it was natural of informed citizenry to know whether or not their suggestions were incorporated in the constitution.

The top court rejected the precedent set in the Advocate Narhari Acharya versus the government (Nepal Kanoon Patrika, 2050, issue 2, verdict No 4695) where the SC had refused to order the government to distribute the constitution of 1990 saying the said constitution was promulgated by a commission whereas the current constitution was promulgated by the Constituent Assembly. As the current constitution was issued by the people, it should be easily accessible. Responding to the government's argument that it is not possible to distribute copies of the constitution free of cost, the apex court said the draft of the constitution was distributed free of cost before it was finalised, it could not be said that the copies of the constitution could not be distributed free of cost now.

The court observed that the current constitution was fundamentally different from past constitutions as this constitution was promulgated after intense debate in two Constituent Assemblies.

While the Interim Constitution of 2007 was promulgated by political parties, other constitutions of the past were promulgated by the king. Writing a constitution is a complex and expensive work. People own up the constitution promulgated by the Constituent Assembly, the court said.

The court said that transformative preamble, fundamental rights, federalism, pluralistic governing system, independent judiciary, constitutional watchdog bodies and proportional inclusion were the main features of the constitution.

The court said though the laws were available on government websites, it was imperative to distribute free copies of the constitution as many people in the country still lacked access to the internet.

A version of this article appears in the print on October 17, 2023, of The Himalayan Times