KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 30
Bagmati province government has sued the federal government accusing it of violating its exclusive power over transport management.
The petitioner filed the writ at the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court arguing that Urban Area Public Transport (Management) Authority Act, 2022 enacted by the federal Parliament violated Bagmati province's constitutional power.
Bagmati provincial government has stated in its writ that although the federal government appeared to manage the urban centre transport, it is not difficult to understand the federal government's mala fide intention in encroaching on the provincial government's power. Enactment of the Act is against Article 56, 57 (1), (2) and Schedule 5 and Schedule 6.
Stating that out of 13 districts that are under the jurisdiction of Bagmati province, the federal government took out three districts - Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur - in terms of transport management and hence the federal government's action was akin to amending the constitution.
The petitioner argued that the constitution provisioned cooperative relations between all three tiers of the government, but the federal government did not coordinate with it when it enacted the Urban Area Public Transport (Management) Authority Act.
The petitioner also argued that the federal government also violated Section 4 of Federation, Province and Local Government (Coordination and Interrelations) Act, 2020 which stipulates that the federal government shall not encroach upon exclusive powers of province and local levels while enacting laws on issues of exclusive powers and concurrent powers.
Bagmati provincial government has said that it had enacted multiple laws and manual to exercise its exclusive powers over management of transport within its province. Bagmati provincial government said that phrases such as management, development and expansion' in The Urban Area Public Transport (Management) Authority Act, were among the provisions of the Act that violated the constitution.
Bagmati provincial government has urged the court to declare the Act invalid to the extent it violated the constitution and to stay the execution of the Act's provision till the final adjudication of the case.
Bagmati provincial government stated that if the court did not stay the execution of the Act, the federal government could intervene in its functions by bringing provincial transport offices under it and the province would lose a huge amount of revenue.
The provincial government has stated in its petition that out of 12.53 billion rupees - total transport revenue of Bagmati province - the provincial government received 88.77 per cent (11.12 billion rupees) transport revenue from Kathmandu valley.
There are 13 districts in Bagmati province. The provincial government has argued that the federal government had enacted the Urban Area Public Transport (Management) Authority Act with the aim of managing all public transport within Kathmandu valley through the Urban Area Public Transport Authority. The preamble and objective of this Act makes it clear.
The petitioner said that the federal government was confined to making laws on exclusive power lists which includes national transport policies, management of rail and national highway, which also include policies regarding inter-province transport and entry and exit of transport from one province to another. The petitioner argued that Article 57 (1) and entry 20 of Schedule 5 of the constitution did not give the federal government the power to manage public transport of any part or a district. The provincial government stated that the Urban Area Public Transport (Management) Authority Act indicated that the federal government had the ill intention of usurping the provincial government's power.
Minister of Labour, Employment and Transport of Bagmati government Laxman Lamsal filed the case on behalf of the provincial government against the federal government naming the Prime Minister's Office and Office of the Council of Ministers, Federal Parliament Secretariat, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Federal Capital Urban Area Public Transport Authority and Chief Executive Officer of the same authority Kuver Nepali as defendants.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 31, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
