Haggling among CC members results in nomination delays
KATHMANDU, AUGUST 3
The Constitutional Council has recommended senior most Justice of the Supreme Court Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha for the post of chief justice. The Constitutional Council kept up the tradition of recommending the senior most justice as the new CJ.
Chair of National Assembly Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, who attended the meeting told media persons that the Constitutional Council also decided to write to the concerned agencies to place a 15-day notice for vacant posts of commissioner(s) at the Election Commission, the post of Auditor General, members of National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission, and the Muslim Commission.
Now the Parliamentary Hearing Committee will have to conduct confirmation hearing for the CJ and all the other names recommended by the Council.
Shrestha will be the Acting CJ on August 5 when incumbent CJ Hari Krishna Karki retires from service on the ground of age.
Shrestha, who originally hailed from Doti district is a permanent resident of Dhangadi, Kailali. He holds MA and DL Degree. Shrestha has been serving as justice of the apex court since 1 August 2016. He was appointed chief judge of Court of Appeal, Hetauda, on 26 August 2014 and served in that capacity until his appointment as a justice of the SC.
Shrestha, who joined judicial service on 9 April 1982 had also served as district court judge be-fore his appointment as high court judge.
If confirmed, Shrestha will serve as the CJ for 14 months before retiring from service on age ground.
The Constitutional Council was supposed to nominate the next CJ one month before the end of incumbent CJ's tenure.
But in this case, the CC failed to do so.
Often, members of the Constitutional Council haggle over the names of people to be nominated for different constitutional bodies, including justices, as a result of which the council often fails to nominate eligible people on time.
Recently, the National Human Rights Commission issued a press release calling on the government to immediately fill the vacancy of judges in different courts, including the post of chief justice, saying that not appointing judges on time adversely impacted people's access to justice and timely delivery of justice.
The NHRC said delivery of justice was being adversely impacted due to vacant posts of judges in the Supreme Court and the high courts. Six vacancies for the post of judge remains at the SC, 47 in high courts, and 37 in district courts.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 4, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
