KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 16
Six justices of the Supreme Court broke ranks with other dissident justices and conducted hearing of all types of cases today.
Justices Tej Bahadur KC, Bam Kumar Shrestha, Kumar Chudal, Kumar Regmi, Manoj Kumar Sharma, and Prakash Kumar Dhungana conducted hearing of all types of cases today.
Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana did not form his own bench, but listed 279 cases for hearing in different benches.
Other justices of the apex court, as well as the Nepal Bar Association, who have accused the CJ of seeking to appoint his brother-in-law a minister in the Sher Bahadur Deuba Cabinet and delaying hearing of the cases filed against appointments made to the constitutional bodies, continued to protest against Rana. Dissident justices and NBA have sought Rana's resignation, but the CJ has refused to quit.
NBA staged a sit-in at the main entrance of the SC today as well in an attempt to block Rana from entering the court. But Rana used a different gate to enter the court.
Addressing a corner meeting on the NBA premises here today, NBA President Chandeshwor Shrestha said the second phase of protest programmes ended today, but the current mode of protests, such as staging sit-in at the main entrance of the SC and protesting against the CJ by tying black armband would continue. He said Rana's resignation was the NBA's bottom-line and, if need be, the lawyers' umbrella body could intensify the stir against Rana.
Meanwhile, NBA office bearers held a meeting with dissident justices and told them that Rana's resignation was their bottom-line. Six Justices who conducted hearings of all types of cases today were, however, not present in the NBA meeting with dissident justices.
NBA Vice-president Rakshya Basyal told mediapersons after the meeting that the justices were concerned about service seekers' inconvenience caused by the recent protest and were also thinking of what could be a graceful exit for CJ Rana.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 17, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
