Opinion

Gone overboard

Gone overboard

By The Himalayan Times

The interim order issued by a single bench of the Supreme Court on June 19 against the 16-point deal reached by the four major political forces on June 8 has stirred controversy. The Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Unified CPN-Maoist and MJF-Democratic had reached the agreement in which they had, among other things, agreed to carve out eight federal units based on identity and economic capability and the names to be determined by a two-thirds majority of the concerned elected Pradesh assemblies. The agreement was intended to expedite the constitution-writing process. Responding to a writ petition filed by two petitioners, SC Justice Girish Chandra Lal issued the order against the government and the CA chair not to implement it. Justice Lal observed that it will be 'unconstitutional' to promulgate the new constitution without the names and boundaries of the federal units, and it will violate Articles 138 and 82 of the Interim Constitution. The bench also observed that the country will land into yet another phase of 'conflict and pose threat to peace and order' if the new constitution is adopted without the names and boundaries of the federal units. The apex court appears to be inconsistent while dealing with the writ petitions related to politics The SC order has been a highly divisive issue and  many constitutional experts, lawyers and even the CA chairman have termed  it as 'immature' and a 'constitutional activism' on the part of the Supreme Court. The constitutional experts and a former chief justice have suggested that the government file another writ petition at the apex court seeking its repeal. Other constitutional experts have said that this verdict has violated the precedents set by the Supreme Court. It may be recalled that when a writ petition was filed at the apex court on January 23, 2014 demanding fresh elections of the President and Vice-President following the second CA election, it was the apex court which revoked the writ saying that it was a 'political issue' and that the Supreme Court need not interfere in it. In yet another writ petition filed regarding the nomination of 26 CA members and federalism, the apex court had said that it was not necessary to give its verdict, as both the issues were political and they fell within the jurisdiction of the government and the CA. Taking into account these two precedents set by the Supreme Court itself, what can be said is that the apex court appears to be inconsistent while dealing with the writ petitions related to politics. The court  may be advised to restrain from issuing stay or interim orders on issues that are highly political and sensitive. What should be noted is that the 16-point deal was reached at the political level and the same was not endorsed by the CA full house. The CA full house endorsed the report of the Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee which prepared its report as per the CA rules. The SC order seems to have gone little overboard in stating that the country would plunge into conflict if the names and boundaries of federal units are not decided right away. Conflicts are and should be more of a matter of concern to the government and political parties than to the court of law.  In any case, the CA is still in the middle of the constitution-drafting process. Like other years This year’s School Leaving Certificate examination results have been similar to the results over the past few years — not much to be enthusiastic about. Only 47.43 per cent of the students passed, which is an improvement of about three per cent over the past year. However, there is no room of complacency. Despite the huge investment in the education sector by the government the high number of students failing to clear this hurdle is disturbing. There is something clearly wrong with the education system of the country that needs to be amended. It could require changing the present SLC exam systems and the curricula. Although attempts have been made to incorporate the education system of the developed Western countries, they have not worked in Nepal. The prevailing political instability, politicization of the education sector, and blatant commercialism could be held responsible for this. Moreover, while most of the students from private schools manage to pass the exams with high marks, the students of community schools fare very poorly. While much has been talked about improving the school education system, unfortunately, not much has been done so far.