Kathmandu, June 24:

The Parliamentary Public Hearing Special Committee (PHSC) is scheduled to meet on June 28 to discuss the appointment of four Supreme Court judges.

“We have scheduled a meeting after we got the recommendation from the Judicial Council for appointment of the SC judges,” a high-ranking official of the parliament secretariat told this daily. The PHSC would discuss the appointment of Damodar Prasad Sharma, Ram Kumar Prasad Shah, Kalyan Shrestha and Gauri Dhakal as permanent SC judges. Currently they are ad-hoc judges in the SC.

“If the PHSC does not approve their appointment as permanent judges their tenure will end in August,” a source from the Judicial Council said.

This is the first time that the SC judges are facing a hearing of a parliamentary committee. The Judicial Council, headed by CJ Dilip Kumar Paudel, had on Friday decided to recommend the PHSC to conduct hearing.

As per Rule 212 of the Legislature-Parliament Regulation 2007, the 29-member committee will either approve or reject the names recommended for the posts within 15 days.

The Interim Constitution of Nepal has a provision that the CJ will appoint SC judges after the PHSC approves the proposed by the Judicial Council.