KATHMANDU: Senior lawyers today urged Chief Justice Anup Raj Sharma and other senior judges of the Supreme Court to improve the image of the judiciary.

Among other things, they have underlined the need to end the practice of ‘bench shopping’ which is rife in the judiciary as seen in the practice by some judges.

“If the judges maintain their integrity, not a single lawyer would escape any judge’s bench,” a participant cited a senior lawyer as saying.

In his bid to reform the judiciary, the CJ had organised a meeting of the high -level judicial problem settlement committee, which comprises of judges and lawyers, to collect their feedback.

The CJ today sought suggestions from top attorneys and senior legal experts in this regard. One of sticking points in relation to judicial reform was how to manage the time of the bench so as to decide backlog cases on a time-bound manner.

Former NBA Presidents Shambhu Thapa and Harihar Dahal, General Secretary Madhav Baskota, NBA President Bishwo Kanta Mainali, Vice President Hari Prasad Uprety and General Secretary Raman Kumar Shrestha and senior advocates Sarvagya Ratna Tuladhar, Basanta Ram Bhandari took part in the deliberation.

Attorney General Prof Dr Bharat Bahadur Karki and former Attorney General Yagya Murti Banjade were also present in the meeting.

Chief Justice Anup Raj Sharma, senior justices Ram Prasad Shrestha, Bala Ram KC and Top Bahadur Magar also joined in the meeting on behalf of the Supreme Court.