Kathmandu, July 12

The Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee has started the process of conducting confirmation hearing for the new chief justice.

Senior-most Justice of the Supreme Court Deepak Raj Joshee has been serving as the acting chief justice after Gopal Prasad Parajuli lost his job as the CJ on March 15. The Constitutional Council had on June 12   recommended Joshee for appointment as the new chief justice.

Former chief justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli had lost his job after Secretary of the Judicial Council Nripa Dhwaj Niraula wrote a letter to him on March 14, stating that he had crossed the age limit of 65 years on August 5, 2017. Joshee will be formally appointed as the chief justice by the president after the parliamentary panel endorses his name through two-thirds majority.

Deputy Spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat Keshav Aryal said the formation of the PHSC had opened the doors for appointments to constitutional posts.

According to the PHSC member Yogesh Bhattrai, the panel will publish a notice seeking complaints, if any, against Joshee tomorrow. The panel will collect the complaints within 10 days as per the new procedure, which was endorsed by the panel today.

Earlier, the parliamentary panel gave seven days’ time to the public to lodge complaints against  candidates nominated by the Constitutional Council for constitutional posts.

As per the new procedure, persons nominated for constitutional posts should submit to the panel his/her curriculum vitae, and photocopy of citizenship and academic certificates. The nominees should also express their commitment in writing as to what they plan to accomplish. The panel can also invite experts to give their opinion on the nominees.

Each lawmaker is given five minutes to ask questions in the first phase. In the second round hearing, they will have two minutes to pose questions to nominees. The procedure was drafted by a sub-committee comprising Yogesh Bhattarai, Ashok Kumar Mandal Kewat and Pushpa Bhusal. The PHSC endorsed the procedure today, said Bhattarai.

Joshee was born on October 10, 1954, and appointed SC justice in 2014. He practiced law from 1979 to 1990. He was a founder secretary of Democratic Lawyer’s Association. Joshee holds a master’s degree in Political Science and bachelor’s degree in law from Tribhuvan University.