Kathmandu, March 25:

The Nepal Bar Association today warned Chief Justice Kedar Prasad Giri that the lawyers’ umbrella organisation would call back the judges appointed from among the lawyers if the

judiciary did not recognise the lawyers as a part of the judiciary.

A delegation led by NBA president Bishwo Kanta Mainali today warned the CJ to call back the lawyer-turned-judges if the Judicial Council did not allocate fifty per cent quota for the legal practitioners while appointing judges.

“We are ready to call them back,” General Secretary Raman Kumar Shrestha told reporters. There are altogether 20 lawyer-turned-judges in the Supreme Court and Appellate Courts.

The NBA took the move after the Judiciary Officers’ Society (JOS) accused the lawyers of being incompetent and evading taxes.

Anup Raj Sharma, Bala Ram KC, Mohan Prakash Sitaula, Prakash Osti, Sushila Karki and Bharat Raj Upreti are some lawyers who are now justices in the apex court and Gopal Parajuli, Laxman Mani Risal, Dipak Raj Joshi, Govinda Upadhayay and Keshav Mainali are some of the judges who were appointed from among the legal practitioners in Appellate Courts.

The NBA delegation also called the Chief Justice to maintain the discipline of court officials. The CJ promised to discuss the matter with JC members. “He told us that he was very serious

and would take appropriate initiatives against them (judicial officers),” Mainali said. “We should have a cordial relation between the bar and the bench,” Mainali quoted the CJ as saying.