The Supreme Court has decided to first complete the hearing on the writ petition filed under the leadership of NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba, against the dissolution of the House of Representatives.
The Constitutional Bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana and justices Dipak Kumar Karki, Meera Khadka, Iswar Prasad Khatiwada and Dr Ananda Mohan Bhatarrai took the decision. A total of 146 MPs of the dissolved HoR led by NC president Deuba had filed the writ.
During the hearing today, senior advocates Shambhu Thapa and Mahadev Yadav argued that the door to appointment of Deuba as the Prime Minister should be opened with an interim order from the apex court.
Thapa argued that Prime Minister Oli was already relieved from his post, as he declared that he would not get the vote of confidence from the house, as required by the Constitution within 30 days of his re-appointed to the post.
Likewise, Yadav put forth the argument that the Constitution envisions government formation in four different ways as per Article 76 (1), (2), (3) and (6). The President dissolved the house because she did not to want allow formation of a new government.
Following the hearing, the bench decided to complete the case filed by Sher Bahadur Deuba et all first and then present 29 other writ petition related to the same matter, along with a copy of the verdict on this one, said joint spokesperson of the Supreme Court Devendra Dhakal.
Defendants given seven days to submit reply
Following the preliminary hearing on the writ petition today, the court has ordered all the defendants to submit a reply in writing with seven days from the date of receipt of the order. An interim order is not warranted as all questions will be settled after receiving the written reply, the order concludes.
Likewise, the Constitutional Bench has issued an order demanding amicus curiae (an assistant to the court) in the ongoing hearing on the case filed against the dissolution of the House of Representatives. The Bench has sought two senior advocates each from the Nepal Bar Association and the Supreme Court, NBA unit.
The order requires legal practitioners including the public prosecutor on behalf of the petitioner and the respondent including Amicus Curiae to present a debate note by upcoming July 25.
Time fixed for the case hearing
As per the order, legal practitioner (s) pleading on behalf of the writ petitioner (s) have been given maximum of 15 hours: 12 hours for hearing and 3 hours for post-pleading response. A total of 15 hours has been set for all legal practitioners including public prosecutors, and two hours (half an hour for each) for Amicus Curiae.
Presence of limited people sought in bench
The orders seeks the arrangements of the presence of up to five persons, on behalf of the writ petitioners, up to three persons advocates taking part in the hearing in support of petitioners and a maximum of three public prosecutors in the bench at a time, bearing in mind the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 30 writs have been registered in the apex court, seeking an order to rescind President’s May 22 move to dissolve the House of Representatives and announce snap elections for upcoming November 12 and November 19 on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.
Source: National News Agency Nepal