Kathmandu, July 23 :

Supreme Court Justice Anup Raj Sharma today said that though the House of Representatives is legitimate as it is exercising the people’s power, it should be dissolved once an interim constitution is drafted.

“The House’s life should come to an end along with the formation of an interim constitution and an interim parliament,” Sharma said. He was speaking at a programme, ‘Inner Parts of the Interim Constitution,’ organised by the Constitutional Lawyers’ Forum.

He also said that there should be a constitutional court to resolve disputes related with elections to a Constituent Assembly.

“The House was reinstated through a political decision and not under the doctrine of necessity,” Sharma said.

He added that the interim constitution should reflect the agreements between the seven-party alliance and the Maoists as the document is basically a political one.

He further urged that the judiciary be made independent to protect the rights of the people. “The 1990 Constitution had adopted the concepts of King in parliament and the constitutional monarch, but now the new constitution should come clear in this regard,” he said.

He also urged the incorporation of the re-appointment process of judges and officials in the statute and termination of the jobs of those who have no faith in the democratic norms and values. “A judge who has no faith in democracy and the rights of the people has not right to remain in office,” he said.

Constitutional expert Dr Surya Dhungel said the Maoists could be included in the interim parliament by either appointing them in the Upper House or appointing their Representatives from the all districts.

He said an interim parliament is needed alongside the interim constitution to make the peace process a success.

UML leader Jhala Nath Khanal and Nepali Congress MP Mahesh Acharya said they will soon

decide on what the King’s position should be in the changed context.

President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Prakash Raut said the peace process would go nowhere if an interim constitution is not drafted.

At the programme, advocates Chandra Kanta Gyawali, Tika Ram Bhattarai, Lalit Basnet and Madhak Basnet presented working papers on the interim constitution.