Kathmandu, February 22:

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court, seeking its order to declare a proviso of the Civil Code 1963, which allows judges to decide cases involving their sisters-in-law, null and void.

Advocate Achyut Prasad Kharel filed the PIL, seeking the apex court order to scrap Clause 30 (1) of the Court Management Chapter of 1963 Code, which allows judges to hear cases of their sisters-in-law.

The advocate said the proviso is against the principle of universally-accepted natural justice system, which does not permit a judge to hear his/her case and cases involving his/her relatives.

The Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet and the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs have been made the defendants in the PIL. “As Clause 30 (1) comes in the way of impartial delivery of justice, the apex court should scrap it,” Kharel said.