CJ vows to take action against corrupt judges
Kathmandu, August 12:
Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel today vowed to initiate process to amend the Judicial Council Act 1990 and its Regulation to make it easier to take actions against the corrupt judges.
“Amendment of the Act and the Regulation is necessary for introducing reforms in the judiciary,” Paudel today said speaking at an interaction on Role of Judicial Council in Making Competent Judiciary organised by the Judicial Council with financial assistance of the ARD Rule of Law Project. Paudel, the ex-officio chairman of the council, said that there is an
urgent need to improve the image of the judiciary for which all concerned should work hard.
“The judiciary is the faith of the people so everybody should respect its supremacy,” he added. Justice and member of the council, Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, said the council would actively work to wipe out corruption in judiciary without which it will be impossible to protect the image of the judiciary.
“This is the duty of the council as given by the Constitution,” Rayamajhi said, adding, “The council is busy in performing regular jobs but it must work to strengthen judicial independenc
by preparing an action plan.” Minister of Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and ex-officio member of the Judicial Council, Niranjan Kumar Thapa, said the council would give priority to appoint competent legal practitioners and officers in the judicial service to ensure independence in the judiciary and keep its image clean in the future. President of Nepal
Bar Association, Shambhu Thapa, urged the Supreme Court to activate the Constitution by interpreting it in an appropriate manner. “The Supreme Court is in top position so it has to think about the future course to uphold the rule of law,” he added.
“We have constitutional supremacy and therefore the apex court should not consider any kind of unconstitutional orders from any quarter,” Thapa said urging the the Judicial Council to appoint honest jurists as Supreme Court Justices and not only promote the court officials to the posts. Fredrick G Yeager, chief of the ARD Rule of Law Project, urged the Chief Justice to combat judicial corruption to maintain the image of the judiciary. Secretary of the council, Kashi Raj Dahal, said the council has not been able to work in an organised manner due to several circumstances.