KATHMANDU: Supreme Court Justice Kalyan Shrestha today urged the Constituent Assembly (CA) members to write the constitution as per the wishes of the people and not to deviate from their usual route in the process because of the 'whip' of their respective parties.

"Since the constitution is for the people and the nation they should not work only as per the interest and whip of their respective parties," Shrestha said, adding, "They should feel that they are working in the interest of the people."

"They must also bear in mind that they are not writing the constitution for their parties," Justice Shrestha commented, delivering a speech at a programme titled “Relation between judiciary and press” organised here by the Judicial Officers' Society, the Supreme Court.

He also called upon the media and the civil society to press the politicians to ensure judicial independence.

"The judiciary is the backbone of democracy," he said, adding, "Without the independence of judiciary and free press, democracy can not foster.”

Speaking on the occasion, senior journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, said the perspectives on the judiciary and press has changed a lot since the last few decades.

He said they were at loggerheads earlier in the past.

Dixit said though both the judiciary and press still harbour grudges against each other, they can be narrowed down through regular interactions.

Registrar of the SC Dr Ram Krishna Timalsena said the media should work in unison. He added that the Right to Information Act, 2007 has given more rights to the people in relation to receive information and that the press has an instrumental role to play in this regard.