" The issue has to do with appointment of judges from among the lawyer fraternity "
KATHMANDU, JULY 3
A scuffle that broke out between Lalitpur District Court employee Premika Tamang and lawyer Amir Lamichhane on June 28 snowballed into a fight between the bar and bench, especially the cadre judges of the Supreme Court.
A day after court employees halted work across the country in support of Tamang, Nepal Bar Association countered the protest today by boycotting hearings, except habeas corpus writ petition.
Senior lawyers and NBA officials gathered at Laliltpur District Court and addressed the protesting lawyers showing solidarity with lawyer Lamichhane.
They blamed the cadre judges of the judiciary for provoking court employees against the bar.
According to a knowledgeable source, senior most Justice of SC Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha had told a Judicial Council meeting recently that the percentage of lawyers to be appointed high court judge should be minimised, infuriating Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki and other member of the JC which represented the NBA.
Senior Advocate Raman Kumar Shrestha said cadre judges of the court who were hellbent on preventing Chief Justice Karki from nominating judges from among lawyers, goaded the court employees to blow the issue of the scuffle out of proportion. Shrestha told THT that cadre judges of the SC were prejudiced against lawyers and were trying to provoke court employees to prevent CJ Karki from nominating judges from among lawyers.
If it was not for the cadre judges, these court employees would not distribute leaflets saying that judges should not be appointed from among lawyers and judges' fee should be fixed.
Do the employees mean that lawyers do not pay taxes to the government?" he wondered. Shrestha said cadre judges had no right to speak against lawyers. "Most cadre judges have got the JC to nominate judges from among their lawyer relatives and now they are opposing appointment of judges from among lawyers," Shrestha said. He said Senior most Justice of SC Bishowambhar Shrestha had got his cousin Merina Shrestha appointed a high court judge. "Favouritism and nepotism have been going on for a long time in the judiciary."
Former CJ Bishwanath Upadhyay made two of his brothers justices of the SC.
Former CJ Ram Kumar Prasad Sah secured his daughter's appointment as high court judge and former CJ Damodhar Prasad Sharma got his nephew appointed as SC Justice," Shrestha added.
Shrestha said court employee Tamang first refused to give court order to Lamichhane and when he demanded to see the case file in which he was also an agent of the case party, she demanded a bribe of Rs 2,000.
According to Shrestha, Tamang, who was known for escalating the situation and showing aggressive behaviour towards his coworkers and lawyers, manhandled Lamichhane. "The scuffle was recorded on CCTV, but Lalitpur District Court is now saying that its CCTV has been out of order for the last two months," Shrestha said.
Meanwhile, the NBA decided to resume court practice from tomorrow, urging the government to immediately appoint judges in all vacant positions. NBA General Secretary Anjita Khanal told THT that the NBA would continue to protest during break time so that the court could carry out regular proceedings unhindered.
The NBA has demanded that the 'false' FIR lodged against lawyer Lamichhane be withdrawn and the FIR lodged by Lamichhane against Tamang be admitted.
Apart from demanding an end to anomalies in the court, the NBA has also demanded that court employee Tamang be transferred to another office.
Khanal said NBA was of the view that appointment of high court judges was not promotion, hence career judges should not oppose it.
"Everywhere high court judges are appointed from among lawyers, but here, career judges are plying pressure to get the lion's share in appointment," she added. Khanal said the NBA had demanded a long time ago that there should be 50 per cent lawyers among high court judge nominees.
Earlier, around 33 per cent high court nominees were from among lawyers.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 4, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
