Kathmandu: The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a temporary interim order preventing the implementation of the government’s amended provisions that eliminate the age limit of 65 for appointing the governor of the Rashtra Bank.
According to National News Agency Nepal, a single bench of Justice Nityananda Pandey issued the order directed at the Government of Nepal. The SC has instructed the Nepal government, the Ministry of Finance, and the Governor Selection Committee to appear before it on April 20 to deliberate on whether the interim order should remain in place.
The interim order follows a writ petition filed by advocates Pratibha Upreti and Bishal Thapa, arguing that it was unlawful to amend the appointment criteria for governors in a manner that could serve self-interest. The Government of Nepal had previously amended the criteria by removing Section 3(c) of the guidelines related to the appointment and nomination of office-bearers and members of public bodies connected to the Ministry of Finance.
This section specified that the age for a Chief Executive Officer should be at least thirty years, while other officials and members should be between thirty-five and sixty-five years of age. The petitioners requested the court to annul the government’s decision and mandate the appointment of a qualified individual as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank.