SC issues show cause notice to government

Kathmandu, January 16

The Supreme Court today issued a show cause notice to the government for bringing civil servants adjustment ordinance.

A single bench of Justice Purushottam Bhandari issued the order in response to a writ petition filed by Amar Singh Oli, general secretary of Rastriya Karmachari Mahasangh Nepal.  The SC asked both sides to present their arguments on January 20 when it would decide whether or not to issue an interim order.

Oli told THT that he sought repeal of the ordinance as it discriminated against civil servants and denied civil servants choosing adjustment in the provincial and local governments from getting transferred in the federal government later.

Oli said federal employees would have their classes while civil servants choosing to be adjusted in provincial and local governments would have level categorisation and would not be able to be transferred to the federal government.

He also said that the ordinance gave the federal government the power to appoint chief executive officers in local levels and chief secretaries in provinces which was against the principle of federalism.

Oli said that the government should have brought a new law by discussing the issue in the Parliament. “There was no need for the government to bring ordinance because we already had Civil Service Act, 1993 and new Civil Servants Adjustment Act passed on October 16, 2017,” he added.