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Prachanda Raj ‘Anil’ was one of the most prominent Supreme Court judges Nepal has had so far. He was appointed a Supreme Court judge on 9 July 1986. Since then, all his verdicts were guided by the need to provide justice, irrespective of the risks and threats that might bring his way. “My father vowed to provide justice, even if doing so put a price on his head,” says Arun Raj Maskey. Prachanda Raj was indeed fearless. During Nepal’s panchayat regime, he was an official of the then Regional Court. However, he didn’t refrain from delivering verdicts that were against the Panchayat system. He was once presented with a case of an individual against the ruling class. He declared the individual to be innocent and that pitted him firmly against the then autocratic rulers. “My siblings and I were just kids back then, but we still remember the day he announced that verdict,” says Arun. “There are many other incidents, that we cannot quite recall in detail, where we knew his verdicts made him unpopular with the regime,” adds his brother Pawan Raj Maskey. It was the same principle that guided Prachanda Raj while investigating the mysterious death of Madan Bhandari, a political leader of the then Communist Party of Nepal (CPN), in 1993. Currently, his death is an unsolved case, but the Prachanda Raj-led investigation had declared it to have been an unfortunate accident. This announcement had gotten him on the bad books of the then CPN. Pawan remembers the tough days that followed after his father delivered the verdict. He says it was a scary time for the family. “We had to endure a lot of physical, mental, and emotional trauma for quite a while,” he says, adding that there were times when their neighbors alerted them of goons surrounding their house, looking for opportunities to harm them. He recalls the day when some people from the media had come to interview his father and their cameras were vandalized. “We all knew it was the party showing their dismay with the verdict,” he says. After all that he did to provide justice to the innocent, Arun says he is dismayed that the Nepal government didn’t give his father his due. Prachanda Raj was appointed the additional judge of the Supreme Court in 1986. He was, apparently, in line to become the Supreme Court chief justice. Unfortunately, the position was dismissed by former Chief Justice Bishwonath Upadhyaya when he was the chairman of 1990 constitution drafting. “My father was terribly upset about it. He actually never got over it,” says Arun. But that didn’t deter his generous spirit. His sons remember him as a kind and gentle man. He was already ready to help anyone in need. If someone came knocking at their door for monetary help, their father did all that he could to help that person, they say. “We remember him handing away his jewelry if he didn’t have cash when someone asked for financial assistance,” says Pawan. The 91-year-old breathed his last on 5 Dec 2022 in the city he was born in: Kathmandu. He is survived by his wife and five children. Birth: November 1931, Kathmandu Death: 5 Dec 2022, Kathmandu 

The country’s external sector has shown encouraging signs of improvement that began in the third month of the current fiscal year and has continued also in the fourth month. The latest macroeconomic report published by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) shows the balance of payment (BOP), remittance inflow and forex reserves all have increased, offering some level of respite to the government. According to the report, Nepal’s balance of payments (BOP) is at a surplus of Rs 20.03bn in the first four months of FY 2022/23 compared to a deficit of Rs 150.38bn in the same period of FY 2021/22. The BoP had turned surplus in mid-October after a gap of 14 months. Similarly, forex reserves have increased by 2.5 percent to Rs 1,246.27 billion in mid-November 2022 from Rs 1,215.80bn in mid-July 2022. In US dollar terms, the gross forex reserves increased 1.0 percent to 9.63 billion in mid-November from Rs 9.54bn in mid-July this year. The country's forex reserves started to improve from the second month (mid-August-mid-September). With forex reserves depleting last year, the government was forced to intervene, introducing measures such as restrictions on the import of different types of goods for almost eight months. The import restrictions were lifted two weeks ago. According to NRB, the forex reserve is sufficient to cover the merchandise imports for 9.7 months, and merchandise and services imports for 8.4 months. At a time when the country’s banking system is grappling with a prolonged liquidity crunch, the impressive growth in the remittance inflow has given some breathing space to bankers. The central bank said remittance inflow has increased by 20.4 percent in the first four months against a decline of seven percent in the last fiscal. Nepal has received Rs 378.04bn in remittances till mid-November, 2022. While the data shows the external sector is slowly recovering, economists cast doubt on the sustainability of the progress. "The external sector improved when the government imposed a ban on certain products. We have to see if the situation will be the same in the next three months," said Keshav Acharya, former Executive Director of NRB. "Also, exports are declining at a massive rate. And even when there were restrictions, Nepal imported goods worth more than Rs 100 billion every month. The foreign assistance, as pledged by the foreign community, is also not improving," he said. Inflation still on the higher side The NRB report shows inflation has remained persistently higher. The consumer inflation is at 8.08 percent till mid-November. Food and beverage inflation stood at 7.38 percent whereas non-food and service inflation rose to 8.63 percent. Under the food and beverage category, the price of restaurants and hotels has increased by 15.97 percent, tobacco products by 11.81 percent, milk products & eggs by 9.33 percent, cereal grains & their products by 9.19 percent, and alcoholic drinks by 8.84 percent. The country’s major economic indicators Balance of Payment Surplus by Rs 20.03bn Forex Reserves Rs 1,246.27bn (up by 2.5 percent) Remittance                           Rs 378.04bn (Up by 20.4 percent) Tourism Income Rs 17.95bn (up by 137 percent) Foreign Travelling bill Rs 33.06bn (up by 63.8 percent) Abroad Education Bill Rs 22.61bn (up by 111.3 percent) Foreign Direct Investment Rs 429.2m (down by 93.5 percent)

The government’s decision to put forward an ordinance to amend sub-section 116 of the National Criminal Procedures Act, 2017 has drawn widespread criticism. If the ordinance gets the President’s approval, it will allow the government to withdraw political cases pending in any court of law. President Bidya Devi Bhandari is likely to authenticate the ordinance. The ruling political parties maintain that there is a cross-party agreement to withdraw cases of “political nature”. As per existing law, the government can withdraw only those cases pending in district courts. Political experts say the ordinance is meant to secure the incumbent five-party coalition a comfortable majority in parliament to form a new government. Previous governments had signed agreements with various political outfits pledging to withdraw criminal cases against their leaders and cadres. Those cases range from the Maoist insurgency to the deal that KP Sharma Oli-led government signed with the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal. Major parties are demonstrating double standards vis-a-vis these cases. If it serves their immediate interests like government formation, they have no qualms in calling these cases “political”. Human rights activists say that withdrawal of such cases amounts to a grave violation of human rights—it will tarnish the country’s image and promote impunity. The ordinance aims to provide blanket amnesty to all kinds of serious crimes committed under any political guise. It impinges on the jursidiction of the judiciary. The ordinance also directly contravenes the stipulations of international conventions and treaties that Nepal is a party to. It will, in all likelihood, complicate Nepal's attempt to garner support of democratic world in concluding its transitional justice process. The National Human Rights Commission, civil society groups and conflict victims have demanded that the government withdraw the controversial ordinance. Constitutional expert Bipin Adhikari says:  “Even if some cases are withdrawn by amending the laws, it will unleash a never-ending series of withdrawing criminal cases through political means. It will contribute to the culture of impunity.” Securing the release of Resham Lal Chaudhary, the founding chair of Nagarik Unmukti Party, appears to be the immediate objective of this ordinance. Chaudhary stands convicted of masterminding the 2015 Tikapur incident, in which eight people, including a senior Nepal Police officer and a toddler, lost their lives. At that time, political parties were divided on how to take this massacre — some saw it as a political issue, while others termed it as a criminal one. Chaudhary’s supporters claim that the investigation report of the incident, prepared by Justice Girsh Chandra Lal, does not implicate Chaudhary. Many feel that Chaudhary has been unjustly jailed. Lal’s report has not yet been made public. A large section of the Tharu community seems to feel that Chaudhary has suffered injustice. This grievance has been manifested this past election. Nagarik Unmukti Party, registered under the leadership of Chaudhary’s wife Ranjeeta Shrestha, won three House of Representatives seats under the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system. The same party’s Lalbir Chaudhary won as an independent candidate from Bardiya-2. Chaudhary’s party has won 12 seats in provincial assemblies and secured almost 300,000 Proportional Representation votes as well. This shows the sympathy of the Tharu community towards Chaudhary. With 136 seats in the federal parliament, the current ruling coalition is just two seats short of the majority it needs to form a government. Securing Chaudhary’s release at this time could be key to the government formation process. Defending the ordinance, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, minister for information and communication, says it aims to enhance national unity by bringing all political forces on board. Another senior government minister claims that the ordinance has nothing to do with government formation, saying there is an all-party consensus on the ordinance. The ordinance, the minister adds, is in line with agreements signed between the previous government and different political parties and outfits. CPN-UML has opposed the ordinance, even though it has been brought to implement the agreements signed between the then Oli-led government and different political outfits. Former home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa had signed an agreement with the Chand-led Nepal Communist Party on March 4, 2021. He had also signed an 11-point deal with CK Raut of Independent Madhesh Alliance on March 8, 2018. Similarly, Lilanath Shrestha, law minister in the Oli government, had signed a similar agreement with Rukmini Chaudhary of Tharuhat Joint Struggle Committee on June 1, 2021. Cross-party leaders say the spirit of these agreements is paving the legal way for withdrawal of pending cases against leaders and cadres of these groups that have joined mainstream politics. They say it is similar to the withdrawal of cases against Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, senior leader Baburam Bhattarai and other leaders after the signing of Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) in 2006. Former prime ministers Dahal, Bhattarai and Madhav Kumar Nepal recently met Chaudhary in Dillibazaar Prison after Nagrik Unmukti Party’s spectacular performance in the elections. What the ruling parties do not seem to realize is that this ordinance, if passed, will open too big a can of worms. They seem least bothered that it will make way for the government to withdraw criminal cases, some of them of serious nature, against leaders and cadres of the political parties including former Maoist combatants. They could walk out in the name of political prisoners, cleared of all charges and convictions. The CK Raut-led Janamat Party has already set the precondition of withdrawal of cases against its leaders and cadres to join the government in the making. Naturally, the ordinance has drawn criticism from all quarters and pressure is mounting on President Bidya Devi Bhandari not to approve it. “It’s an absolutely wrong move. I wonder who gives suggestions like this to the government. This is unacceptable,” says political analyst Puranjan Acharya of the ordinance. “The present government, which is essentially a caretaker one after the elections, has no authority to bring such an ordinance. The new government can introduce laws through the parliament if it really needs to.” Some influential leaders of the Nepali Congress have also stood against the ordinance. They are putting pressure on the party leadership to withdraw it. Leaders like Shekhar Koirala, Gagan Kumar Thapa, Bishwa Prakash Sharma and Pradip Poudel have taken to social media to voice their opposition to the legal instrument. Sharma has said the ordinance was brought without any discussion in the party, while Thapa has called for immediate withdrawal of the ordinance ‘brought for the release of criminals’. The anti-establishment leader in the NC, Koirala has said the decision to release individuals convicted by the court through an ordinance is a mockery of the rule of law, parliamentary system and the spirit of politics and democracy. Poudel, meanwhile, has said the solution to all the problems has to be sought from the new parliament, not through ordinances. Bypassing the legislature is not a new phenomenon. Instead of facing the parliament, governments prefer to make laws through ordinances. This is not the first time a ruling party leader has relied on an ordinance on controversial topics. In August last year, the coalition government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba had brought an ordinance to amend some provisions of the Political Parties Act, 2017. The amendments were aimed at easing the procedure for political parties to split. The CPN-UML and Janata Samajbadi Party broke up on the back of the same ordinance. Prior to that, the former government of UML under KP Sharma Oli had also tried to push forth a similar ordinance. It was aimed at saving his government. Former Supreme Court justice Balaram KC says the government cannot withdraw cases in which the judiciary has already delivered its verdict, as such cases can no longer be considered cases of political nature. “It is a gross misuse of ordinance brought to serve political interests,” says KC. “If the government thinks there has been a miscarriage of justice, it can recommend the President to grant pardon in specific cases, but mass withdrawal of cases is against the rule of law.” Constitutional expert Adhikari says if the government thinks that certain cases should be withdrawn, it should prepare a document and discuss it in parliament, rather than introducing an ordinance. “Certain provisions made for a fixed period of the peace process cannot be extended for an indefinite period because the peace process has already concluded,” says Adhikari. Experts fear that the government move could open a Pandora’s Box of similar cases in the future, where people with political reach could easily get amnesty for their crimes.

The Election Commission on Wednesday announced the final results of the election to the House of Representatives held on Nov 20. As per final outcome of the poll, 12 parties will have their representatives in the HoR. Seven of these parties have become national parties.

They are Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Center), Rastriya Swatantra Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajbadi Party, and Nepal Janamat Party. 

The Nepali Congress has become the largest party with 79 seats—57 under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system and 32 under the proportional representation (PR) category. The CPN-UML won 78 seats—44 FPTP and 34 PR—to become the second largest party. The Maoist Center came a distant third with 32 seats.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party won 20 and 14 seats respectively.  Likewise, the Janata Samajbadi Party and Nepal Janamat Party secured 12 and six spots in the HoR. Besides these seven national parties, the Nagarki Unmukti Party, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, Rastriya Janamorcha and five independents will also show their participation in parliament. 

Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya has informed that the election results of seven provincial assemblies will be announced on Saturday (Dec 17). The poll body is scheduled to submit the report of the final results of the elections to President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Thursday.