KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 19
As the Nepal Bar Association and dissident justices of the Supreme Court continue to protest against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana, the CJ sent a letter to the NBA and the Supreme Court Bar Association urging them to come to the negotiating table. The CJ had called lawyers for talks on November 15 also but they had rebuffed his call.
Supreme Court Bar Association President Purna Man Shakya told THT that Rana's letter gave an impression that he was ready to discuss ways to strengthen the judiciary, but was not ready to step down. He added that the SCBA would not settle for anything less than Rana's resignation.
He said the NBA and the SCBA would hold their office bearers' meeting and form a common stance on Rana's offer for talks.
Shakya said their protests against the CJ were growing everyday and would continue till the CJ resigned from his post.
Dissident justices, meanwhile, continued their protests against the CJ. They only heard habeas corpus writ petitions.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights and Public Interests Committee of the NBA today issued a press release saying that four protesting lawyers -- advocates Laxmi Pokharel, Divas Niraula, Bishnu Tiwari, and NBA Central Committee member Anju Kayastha -- were injured today when police used force against protesting lawyers. Condemning the incident, the committee urged the concerned agencies not to use force against peaceful protesters.
Supreme Court proceedings, particularly its case hearings, have remain stalled since October 25 after SC justices started boycotting benches. Yesterday, the SC full court decided to go for lottery-based cause list, but this system will come into force only after the revised SC regulation is printed in Nepal Gazette.
Dissident justices and the NBA have accused CJ Rana of seeking to get his brother-in-law appointed as a minister in the Sher Bahadur Deuba Cabinet and delaying the hearing of cases filed against appointments made to the constitutional bodies. The NBA has also accused Rana of not implementing recommendations submitted by the Justice Hari Krishna Karki-led committee, which had, among other things, urged the court to go for automation-based cause list.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 20, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
