Kathmandu, March 27:

The Supreme Court has delegated power to the chief judges of 16 appellate courts to take action against subordinate judges and other officials of the appellate courts if the latter are found involved in corruption and other irregularities. The chief judges will have to report the matter to the Chief Justice.

The Supreme Court delegated this power to the chief judges by amending the Appellate Court Regulation.

The regulation has also authorised the chief judges to forward the matter to the Chief Justice if they fail to decide serious cases concerning subordinate judges and officials.

“The chief judge should immediately forward the details to the Chief Justice if subordinate judges are found not performing their duty as per the Clause 4(a) of the Judicial Council Act, 1990 and if found involved in misconduct,” stated Rule 3(a)(1) of the Regulation.

The apex court has amended the SC Regulation 1992, Appellate Court Regulation 1992 and the District Court Regulation 1996. The amended Appellate Court Regulation has also authorised the chief judges to forward the performance appraisal of subordinate judges to the Chief Justice.

Supreme Court spokesperson Til Prasad Shrestha said these provisions were introduced in the regulations to make the chief judges of the appellate courts more powerful. “These provisions were introduced as per the spirit of the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007.

Expert on anti-corruption law Prakash Wosti, however, said the introduction of these provisions is meaningless if they are not to be implemented.

As per the regulation, commercial benches can be formed in appellate courts to settle commercial and financial disputes.