KATHMANDU: The Chief Justice nominee Ram Prasad Shrestha today admitted that the judiciary was not free from corruption and irregularities

and said that he would concentrate on controlling the wrongdoings in the Judiciary.

Answering the queries of members of the parliamentary hearing special committee, Shrestha said that he would work towards addressing the problems in the judiciary. He, however, claimed that there is no rampant corruption in the judiciary as illustrated by the media and the public.

After taking Shrestha’s statement on his mission, vision and goal, the committee unanimously endorsed his name as the new CJ.

Announcing the decision, Chairman of the committee Kul Bahadur Gurung, said the decision would be forwarded to the Constitutional Council in order to complete the appointment procedure by the President as per the Interim Constitution.

The Constitutional Council had nominated the senior most justice Shrestha as the new CJ on March 16 considering his 35 years of experience in the judiciary.

Shrestha, during the hearing, expressed commitment that he would concentrate on implementing the report

that was prepared by a panel led by him.

“We have found the reality about corruption and irregularities and I am concentrated to implement the report,” Shrestha added. Shrestha also said that he would reactivate the Judicial Council to fight corruption in the judiciary.

Saying that all judges are not clean and above doubt, Shrestha said that every justice should not be blamed of corruption.

Stating that the level of corruption has decreased after the restoration of democracy, he accused brokers of promoting corruption in courts and the lawyers and the media for the false publicity against the judiciary.

He suggested the parliament to follow Indian model of judiciary as Nepal is being transformed into a federal country. He further suggested that a new structure should be created as Nepal cannot afford the financial burden for a federal judiciary.

The CJ nominee also said that he would not repeat the ‘mistake’ on issuing verdicts on important

cases like in the former Chief of Army Staffs

Rookmangud Katawal’s age related case.

“I would make a list of important cases and concentrate for providing justice promptly,” he said.

When asked why the apex court delayed in the Katawal’s case he said, “This was a mistake of the Supreme Court and it will not be repeated in the future,” he added.