Kathmandu, August 11:

The Chief Justice, Dilip Kumar Paudel, told officials of the Nepal Bar Association (NBA) today that he will schedule a hearing on a plea, which was filed seeking the reinstatement of the dissolved House of Representatives, at an appropriate time. Paudel made this comment during a meeting with the NBA officials at his office. Immediately after assuming office on August 1, Paudel had said he would give priority to the House revival plea. “He assured us that he would schedule a hearing on the plea in an appropriate time,” said Shambhu Thapa, the NBA president. Thapa had requested that the hearing be scheduled before Dashain (before October). Stating that former Chief Justices had not given priority to the plea, Poudel said: “Since most of the 11 justices, who passed the verdict in favour of the House dissolution as recommended by the then Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, have retired, new faces would dominate the hearing.” During the meeting, Paudel also said he would appoint honest judges in the Supreme Court and other courts. Stating that they had urged the Chief Justice to appoint the judges who will be accepted by the legal community, the NBA general secretary, Madhav Banskota, said they had asked the Chief Justice to take action against corrupt judges. The NBA officials urged the Chief Justice to appoint the judges in a transparent manner.