Kathmandu, May 1

Nepali Congress leaders have defended the impeachment motion registered against Chief Justice Sushila Karki yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference organised at party headquarters Sanepa today NC leader and Minster for physical Infrastructure and Transport Ramesh Lekhak said the impeachment motion was not against the judiciary, but against Chief Justice Sushila Karki. He said that the intention behind the registration of the impeachment motion was to safeguard the dignity of the judiciary.

Lekhak claimed that the Party was committed to free and fair judiciary from its inception and had not deviated from those values. “CJ Karki had encroached on the powers of the executive,” he added. He also said that CJ Karki defied the principle of separation of power and interfered with the power of the government to pick a new Inspector General of Police among AIG or DIG, whom the government thought capable of doing the job.

Minister Lekhak also accused Karki of lacking competency. “It is the government that looks after daily govaernance and security sectors of the country, the judiciary should not interfere with the executive’s powers” he added.

Referring to Karki’s verdict on a case filed against the government’s decision to appoint new IGP, he also said, “The Chief Justice gave verdict ignoring the facts and accepting the wrong document in the IGP appointment case.”

Lekhak said choosing the same judges again and again in the bench   for the same case was another example of CJ Karki’s arbitrary working style.

The party General Secretary Shashank Koirala said that the party had registered impeachment motion to save the judiciary from being questioned over the impartiality and fairness of the judiciary. Responding to media persons’ queries, Koirala said that the government had enough time to pass the constitution amendment bill before the second phase of local election scheduled. NC leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula said the upcoming local polls would not be postponed.