Kathmandu, September 7

The Parliamentary Hearing Committee has decided to conduct confirmation hearing for chief justice nominee Om Prakash Mishra at 9:00am on Monday.

Senior-most PHC member Laxman Lal Karna, who chaired the panel’s meeting today, said the panel would hear the arguments of those who had lodged complaints at the PHC against CJ nominee Mishra at 9:00am on Sunday. The PHC distributed copies of complaints to its members.

Four persons had lodged complaints against Mishra but one of them withdrew his complaint, according to Karna. One of the complainants Sabitri Subedi said she had raised some questions related to Mishra’s verdict, including a verdict in which a public land was allowed to be registered in an individual’s name in Kathmandu.

Karna said the PHC would not reveal the contents of the complaints lodged against Mishra as it was supposed to keep them secret at the complainant’s request.

Mishra, the acting chief justice, will be appointed chief justice by the president if he is endorsed by the PHC. The Constitutional Council had recommended Mishra for appointment as chief justice on August 23.

Earlier, the PHC had rejected CJ nominee Deepak Raj Joshee on August 3 following which Joshee went on leave paving the way for Mishra to become acting CJ.

The post of chief justice remains vacant since March 14, when the former chief Justice Gopal Parajuli lost his job after the Judicial Council wrote an unusual letter telling him that he had already reached his retirement on August 5, 2017.

The PHC also decided to call for complaints, if any, against the nominee for chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Nabin Kumar Ghimire. The PHC will give 10 days’ time to the public from tomorrow to lodge complaints against Ghimire.