Kathmandu, August 29:

The Constitutional Council (CC) headed by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is likely to recommend a name for the post of the Chief Justice and discuss other vacant posts in other constituional bodies tomorrow.

According to a member of the CC, a CC meeting will be held at the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar at 8 am tomorrow. He said the meeting will most probably recommend the name for a new Chief Justice so that the parliamentary hearing special committee can conduct a hearing before Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel retires on September 7.

Another member of the CC said that though the CPN-UML and the Maoists have been planning to bring about a change in the appointment process of the Chief Justice, the same has become a difficult task given the stance of the NC. “The PM wants to select a Chief Justice on a seniority basis,” the member said.

Five SC Judges Kedar Prasad Giri, Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, Anup Raj Sharma, Ram Prasad Shrestha and Kil Raj Regmi are eligible for the top post in the judiciary as all of them have three years of experience as apex court judges. “We will also discuss the appointment of the Auditor General and appointments in other constitutional bodies, including the National Human Rights Commission and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority,” the CC member said.

While the post of the chairman and members of the NHRC are vacant for the past one year, the post of the Chief Commissioner and some posts of commissioners are vacant in the CIAA for the past eight months. The post of the Auditor General is vacant for the last two months.