Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, May 20:

At a programme on ‘Defiance of Supreme Court orders and Rule of Law’ organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association today, former SC justices advised vice-chairmen of the Council of Ministers and other ministers to read the 1990 Constitution in order to be able to work according to it. “If you cannot read the statute, then we are ready to teach you,” said former justice Laxman Prasad Aryal. One of the drafters of the Constitution, Aryal added said those in power should be given trainings regarding the constitution and rule of law. “Study of the Constitution should be made a compulsory paper for them,” he said, adding, “There is an urgent need to study the Constitution before and after their appointment to the post of ministers.”

He also urged the power wielders to read SC verdicts regarding running of the government. Another former Justice Krishna Jung Rayamajhi said the government has been violating the Constitution. “Neither have they studied it nor are they working in accordance to it,” he said.

According to him, the 1990 Constitution has given the government limited powers vesting the parliament and the judiciary with powers to check and balance the government, but he said the present government is using its powers in an arbitrary manner. “Those who have been appointed ministers after the February 1 takeover have not been working lawfully,” Rayamajhi

added. President of the Nepal Bar Association, Shambhu Thapa, said if ministers were not ready to act in accordance with the Constitution, lawyers would launch a protest against them.

He showed his appreciation for Chief Justice Hari Prasad Sharma’s act of directing Home Minister Dan Bahadur Shahi to respect court orders. “I appreciate you for directing the home minister, but you were wrong when you delivered the speech in Australia supporting February 1 royal move,” he said.