Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, July 6:

A writ petition was filed today at the Supreme Court challenging a legal provision which authorises the government to fix the number of courts in the country without consulting the judiciary.

Advocate Rajiv Banstola filed the petition seeking the apex court’s order to declare the provision of Clause 3(2), 5(1),(2) and (3) of the Judicial Administration Act, 1991 null and void.

Currently, the Council of Ministers is determining the number of courts. There are three tires of courts — the Supreme Court, 16 appellate courts and 75 district courts, along with some special tribunals. After the promulgation of 1990 Constitution, the government reviewed the number of appellate courts twice and special tribunals several times.

In 1990, the government had set up nine appellate courts and increased two more in 1992 and added six more courts in 1996.

The Cabinet Secretariat, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and the Judicial Council have been made defendants in the petition, which accused them of promulgating and acting against the spirit of the statute. The petitioner said it was unconstitutional to determine the number of courts by the government without taking advice from the Judicial Council. “Determination of the number of courts without the consent of the Judicial Council is against Article 93 of the Constitution,” he claimed.