KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 24
Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana, who has been embroiled in a controversy for allegedly lobbying to get his brother-in-law appointed to the Cabinet, now faces challenge from within the judiciary, as 14 justices of the Supreme Court have decided to boycott the full court (meeting of the justices) that CJ Rana has planned for tomorrow.
CJ Rana scheduled the full court for tomorrow to assure office bearers of the Nepal Bar Association that their concerns would be discussed in the full court and a way out would be found.
NBA office bearers met the CJ today and expressed their concerns about allegations against him -- lobbying to get his brother-in-law appointed to the Cabinet, delaying the hearing in the case filed against the appointments to the constitutional bench, and not implementing the process of automation-based cause list.
A justice told THT that they held a meeting today and decided to boycott the full court tomorrow, as the CJ was trying to divert the attention by proposing to discuss issues concerning senior advocates.
"The Former Judges Forum-Nepal has asked the CJ to quit and urged the Parliament to probe allegations against him if he does not resign. FJF-N has also repudiated other justices for not speaking up against Rana in the face of all the recent controversies," the justice said when asked why they were boycotting the full court.
A Supreme Court source told THT that Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal today told justices during their consultations that he had passed an interim order in good faith which did not mean to curtail freedom of speech but only directed the court to interpret in what situation former justices, bar associations, and lawyers associated with a sub judice case could comment on sub judice cases. Justice Phuyal told other justices that he met Rana after questions were raised against the interim order he issued against the constitutional bench that was hearing cases filed against the appointments to the constitutional bodies and told him to settle the issue but Rana neither settled the issues nor did he conduct a hearing on the stipulated date.
General Secretary of NBA Lilamani Paudel said they raised all the current controversies surrounding the CJ and asked him to implement the recommendations made by the Justice Hari Krishna Karki-led committee.
One of the key recommendations of Justice Karki-led committee was to implement automation-based cause list to avoid the allegation of assigning particular cases to particular justices.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association also discussed recent allegations against the CJ. President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Purnima Shakya told THT that the SCBA would discuss the issue tomorrow as well before revealing its official stance on the controversies surrounding the CJ.
Shakya said there was widespread dissatisfaction against CJ Rana since his decision to commute the punishment of murder convict Ranjan Koirala and the appointment of Gajendra Bahadur Hamal as the minister of industry, commerce, and supplies had triggered dissatisfaction against Rana.
NBA General Secretary Paudel, however, said they wouldn't seek CJ Rana's resignation if the reforms in judiciary were introduced but if the reforms were not introduced and the CJ proved to be an obstacle, they would seek his resignation.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 25, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
