Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, July 17:

The Supreme Court (SC) decided more cases in the fiscal year 2004/05 compared with the previous year. A full court meeting of the SC justices held under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Hari Prasad Sharma today termed the rate of decision positive. “This is a positive signal,” a Supreme Court justice told this daily. The meeting evaluated that eight to 10 per cent more cases were decided this year compared with last year. About 21,000 cases, including 5,000 writ petitions, are pending in the Supreme Court. There are 15 justices, including the Chief Justice. During his six-month tenure as the Chief Justice Hari Prasad Sharma has focused on strengthening judicial administration. “We also discussed how to achieve more while delivering justice to the people as we have decided to work on Sundays,” the justice added. Today was the first Sunday when the Supreme Court and other courts in the Valley opened for the first time after eleven years.

Judiciary budget ‘satisfactory’

Kathmandu: The Supreme Court is satisfied with the budget — Rs 840.7 million — allocated to the judiciary for the fiscal year 2005/6. “This is a reasonable allocation at a time when the government is investing a lot in efforts at restoring peace,” SC Acting Registrar Dr Ram Krishna Timalsena said. He added the SC had asked for Rs 1.83 billion in order to implement the judiciary’s first five-year strategic plan. — HNS