It seems that the impeachment motion was tabled in the House only to sideline Rana from his office
The 10th session of the federal parliament, which commenced on December 14 last year, was prorogued from Tuesday midnight, one day before the scheduled debate on the impeachment motion filed by lawmakers of the three ruling parties against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana was to begin in the parliament. CJ Rana's fate hangs in the balance following the prorogation of the winter session, which held only 11 meetings lasting 7 hours and 50 minutes in 92 days. The next session of the parliament, which will be the last one of its five-year tenure, could probably be called in the third week of May. As per the constitutional provision, an impeachment motion filed in the federal parliament against anyone must be settled within three months from the date of filling the impeachment motion.
Even amidst the uproar by the main opposition, CPN-UML, for the last six months, the parliament had formed an 11-member committee to investigate the allegations levelled against him by as many as 98 lawmakers of the ruling parties. But the panel cannot start its investigation against Rana immediately as the parliament had not authorised it to begin work before its ending. Given the ruling parties' strategy, it seems that the impeachment motion was tabled in the House only to sideline Rana from his office.
CJ Rana goes into retirement from office in November due to his age without having to discuss the impeachment motion filed against him on February 13. It is a gross misuse of the prerogative of the parliament by not proceeding with the motion within the deadline.
The main opposition, which was opposed to the motion from the very beginning, has accused the ruling coalition of ending the parliament session all of a sudden with the ulterior motive of preventing the parliamentary debate on the motion and keeping it undecided until Rana retires from office.
It clearly shows that the impeachment motion was filed in the parliament not to pass it, but only to suspend Rana so that senior-most justice Deepak Karki could take charge of the Supreme Court.
Although Rana does not have a clean image as the chief justice, the way the ruling parties misused their powers and played with the legal procedures as per their whims over the serious case will set a bad precedent in the future. What will happen if the main opposition, UML, also files an impeachment motion against four other justices, who were part of the July 12 mandamus verdict that led to the formation of Sher Bahadur Deuba's government from outside the parliament? It was the constitutional duty of the ruling parties to take this issue to a logical conclusion.
They knew that the impeachment motion against Rana could not be passed without the cooperation of the UML, which is still the largest party with a strength of 98 lawmakers. Should the parliament itself violate the rule of law and misinterpret the constitutional provision, democracy will not function as per the letter and spirit of the constitution. When justice is delayed then we must understand that justice has been denied. The ruling coalition must answer why it filed the impeachment motion against a sitting CJ when it knew clearly that it could not pass it through the parliament.
Save our heritage
The dismantling of the concrete bases for erecting eight tall poles to display Nepal's national flag at Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square has been widely praised. And any attempt by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) to go ahead with the construction, in violation of the UNESCO World Heritage Site criteria, should be vehemently opposed. KMC's Mayor Bidhya Sundar Shakya seems to have carried out the construction without consulting any of the stakeholders - the Department of Archaeology (DoA), ward offices, Hanuman Dhoka Palace Management and Conservation Office, locals, not even his deputy.
Erecting the 35-foot poles would have obscured many of the monuments at Basantapur.
This is not the first time that Shakya has landed in controversy since he became the mayor five years ago. Previously, he and the deputy mayor, Hari Prabha Khadgi, had clashed during the reconstruction of the Bal Gopaleshwor Temple in the midst of Rani Pokhari for not following the heritage rules. The Kathmandu Valley boasts of seven World Heritage Sites and thousands of other monuments and temples scattered all around. It is always wise to consult heritage experts, the DoA and locals before renovating or trying to bring any changes in them.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 17, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
