Kathmandu, December 18:

Attorney-general Raghav Lal Vaidya today said that Judicial Council (JC) member Moti Kaji Sthapit should meet Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.

“Sthapit is accountable to the PM, who is the executive head of state. Besides, he has been nominated by the PM. Hence, there shouldn’t be any sort of complication as far as their meeting is concerned,” he reasoned.

It may be recalled that the then PM Girija Prasad Koirala had nominated Sthapit to the Judicial Council as his representative last year. The appointment came in the wake of a minor modification in interim constitution, 2007.

Though the original constitution stated that a PM nominates a legal eagle in the JC, but the Fifth Amendment stipulated that the President can make the appointment on the basis of the PM’s recommendation.

AG Vaidya’s statement coincides with the bitter ego tussle between Law Minister Dev Gurung and Sthapit. The duo is at loggerheads over Sthapit’s denial to step down from his post.

The growing rift is causing a series of administrative hurdles, including appointment of more than four dozen judges in all the three-tiers of the judiciary.

The chief legal advisor to the government thought aloud whether a JC member could be removed before his four-year tenure got over.

He suggested that JC meetings should be held on a regular basis.