EDITORIAL: Question of ethics

Unethical practice must be stopped to enhance the judiciary’s independent and impartial image. It is not enough to do justice but it should be seen to be done too

The Judicial Council headed by Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha on Tuesday nominated 11 new justices for the Supreme Court. Seven of them are sitting judges of the appellate courts and four others are senior advocates. All of them will be sworn in only after the Parliamentary Hearing Committee, which has yet to be constituted, completes its hearing of the nominated justices. The nomination of the 11 justices comes at a time when the sitting Chief Justice is going to retire in six weeks and two members of the JC have yet to be appointed by the Prime Minister and NBA. Hari Krishna Karki, who was president of the Nepal Bar Association and the Attorney General before his nomination, Prakash Raut, Anil Kumar Sinha and Sapana Pradhan Malla, a former CA member/lawmaker, are senior lawyers. Some of the members of the JC had also suggested that new justices should not be nominated until the JC gets its full shape. Earlier, the then Chief Justice Ram Kumar Prasad Sah had failed to nominate new justices to the SC due to differences among the JC members over the names for the SC justices.

It is a matter of great relief that the JC has been able to nominate 11 new justices after a long gap. The legal fraternity had been calling for the timely nomination of adequate number of justices to the apex court so that cases pending in the highest court could be settled without much delay. As per the new Constitution, there shall be 21 justices in the apex court. There are currently 10 justices, including the Chief Justice, who are under tremendous pressure to settle the cases. The number of SC justices was increased keeping in mind the volume of cases piled up in the SC. Due to lack of adequate number of justices, the SC could manage to dispose of only 40 to 60 cases out of 150 to 200 in the cause list. There was an urgency to fill the widening gap between the ratio of pending cases and the number of justices.

But what is the matter of concern is that a former CA member/lawmaker who herself is a human rights activist has also been nominated for the SC justice. It is quite unethical to nominate a person to the highly independent body who has already served as a lawmaker under the quota of a political party. Thisis probably the first time that a former lawmaker has been nominated for a SC justice. How can a former CA member/lawmaker who holds partisan position can deliver fair and impartial judgment after being appointed as a justice of the apex court? This is, however, not the first time that the persons nominated for the judgeship have landed into controversy. When the then Chief Justice Ram Kumar Prasad Sah-led JC nominated district and appellate court judges some of them reportedly visited the CPN-UML party headquarters after being sworn in. One of them was even found to have contested the CA election. Such unethical practice must be stopped to enhance the judiciary’s independent and impartial image and win the public trust on the court. It is not enough to do justice but it should be seen to be done.

Wildlife protection

Amendments are being made to the National Parks and Wildlife Act-1973 which forbids the general public to breed and keep some species of wild animals. According to those privy to the coming amendment, certain criteria are being made that would allow to keep, rear and breed certain wild animals. This is being done to conserve and protect the wild animals, many of which are endangered. Taking into account the poaching of the body parts of certain animals, private individuals would also be allowed to sell, distribute and export the body parts of these animals.

Moreover, it authorizes the general public to keep zoos for recreational and education besides reproductive purposes. However, they are to abide by certain terms and conditions. The Act would also permit the exchange of these wild animals to be specified abroad for the purpose of exhibition. Indeed these provisions are timely for unless steps are taken to protect them they could become extinct which would be very tragic. Meanwhile, the authorities concerned should monitor the wildlife kept by the public to see to it that they are taken care of properly and not mistreated.