JC secretary exceeded his brief, says NBA

Kathmandu, March 16

The Nepal Bar Association has issued a press release terming the Judicial Council’s letter to former chief justice Gopal Parajuli about reaching his retirement age on August 5, 2017, a blatant violation of law.

The lawyers’ umbrella body said JC Secretary Nrip Dhwaj Niraula exceeded his brief when he wrote the letter to Parajuli on Wednesday. The NBA said Niraula ignored the decisions made by the Judicial Council when he wrote the letter.

“The NBA is worried that if such wrong precedents are set, they could obstruct the rule of law and judicial process and that could adversely affect independence of the judiciary,” the NBA added. It said that all stakeholders should be worried that the letter undermined the dignity of the judiciary.

Stating  that Parajuli was appointed the CJ by the president after the Constitutional Council recommended his name for the post, the NBA said that  JC wrote the letter to Parajuli after seven months as if it had not known about it before and therefore, the letter lacked any legal grounds.

It said that although the controversy ended after Parajuli resigned from his post yesterday, stakeholders should be vigilant about protecting the independence of the judiciary.

Parajuli terms letter ‘illegal’

KATHMANDU: Gopal Parajuli, who lost his job of chief justice after the Judicial Council wrote a letter to him informing him that he had reached his retirement age on August 5, last year, wrote a note on Friday on the same letter terming it illegal. He wrote the note before tendering his resignation to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. Parajuli told THT that he also told the relevant body to take action against JC Secretary Nrip Dhwaj Niraula for writing an illegal letter. Acting Chief Justice Deepak Raj Joshee said on Thursday that JC secretary had the powers to write that letter to Parajuli. He had also said that JC secretary’s job was to update judges’ details in the record book. — HNS