Kathmandu, December 28

The Supreme Court today issued show cause notice in response to the writ petition filed by advocates Roshan Jha and Prabhu Chandra Jha against the expansion of the Cabinet.

The advocate had, on Sunday filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court arguing that the recent expansion of the Cabinet was against Article 76 (9) of the new constitution.

The show cause notice was issued by the bench of Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha.

The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and Parliament Secretariat have been named defendants in the case.

The petitioners had said that the constitution allowed the prime minister to have only 25 ministers in his Cabinet.

The petitioners had also sought interim order urging the court to stop the 15 extra ministers from working in the capacity of ministers.

The petitioners have argued that as per Article 76 (9), the prime minister can appoint only 25 ministers, but currently there are 40 ministers in the Cabinet.