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A constitutional bench has been formed to hear the writ filed against the decision of the Parliament Secretariat to make the impeachment motion filed against suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana ineffective. The bench formed under the headship of acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki comprises Justices Bishowamber Prasad Shrestha, Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada, Ananda Mohan Bhattarai and Anil Kumar Sinha. Earlier on Wednesday, Parliament Secretariat General Secretary Bharat Raj Gautam handed a letter over to Chief Justice Rana, stating that the impeachment motion filed against him has become ineffective. Later, Supreme Court Bar Association Chairman Purna Man Shakya among others moved the court challenging the decision to the Parliament Secretariat. The Bar Association lawyers had staged a sit-in on the premises of the Supreme Court after Chief Justice decided to return to office on the same day. The law practitioners are preparing to stage the sit-in to bar Chief Justice Rana from entering the office. As many as 98 lawmakers of ruling Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center) and CPN (Unified Socialist) had filed an impeachment motion at the Parliament on March 13, 2022. Rana was accused of promoting corruption, stalling much needed reforms in the judiciary and failing to lead the judiciary. He is retiring on December 13. Rana was appointed as the Chief Justice in 2018.  

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha claimed that the Nepali sky is safe for flights. At a program organized on the occasion of International Civil Aviation Day in the Capital on Wednesday, Minister Shrestha asserted there is no situation for the international agency to raise questions on the issue of aviation safety. "The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is working to further improve aviation security affairs", Minister Shrestha shared, adding that the Authority is working responsibly to this effect. He further said that Nepal's aviation has come closer to getting removed from the 'blacklist' of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Saying that the government has made its policy on aviation security affairs clear, Minister Shrestha expressed his confidence that ICAO would soon free Nepal from its blacklist acknowledging the country's performance on both policy and actions on aviation safety. He, however, admitted that the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) leadership had not been able to develop its institutional capacity. He went on to say that Nepali people are deprived of receiving better aviation services owing to incompetent leadership of the NAC.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava held a meeting with CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Wednesday. During the meeting, ambassador Srivastava inquired about the power equation with UML Chairman Oli, a UML leader said. The UML has become the second largest party in the Parliament from the recently held elections. “The duo discussed power sharing and government formation. They also discussed ties between the two countries,” the leader said. Earlier this week, Srivastava had held a meeting with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. During the meeting, the Indian Ambassador inquired about the formation of the new government with PM Deuba.  

The government has said the impeachment motion against (suspended) Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana has not turned null and void. Minister for Communications and Information Technology and Government Spokesperson, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, made it clear that the matter would be decided through discussions in the upcoming House of Representatives as it was the concern of the sovereign Parliament. Speaking at a press meet in the Ministry today, he said, “A report developed in the HoR following deliberations on the impeachment proposal will be discussed in the lower house to be formed ahead." Earlier, the Federal Parliament Secretariat dispatched a letter stating that the motion turned ineffective with the fresh election to the Member of the House of Representatives (HoR). Rana faces the impeachment motion, labeling a set of charges against him since February 13 with a total of 98 ruling HoR members moving the Federal Parliament Secretariat to register it. He was automatically suspended from the duty with the registration of the proposal. The previous HoR just held preliminary discussion on the topic and the recommendation committee submitted it report. Then no progress was there in regard with the document. On December 5, Rana submitted an application to the Federal Parliament Secretariat seeking its permission to return to regular duty at the apex court. He is retiring from office due to age-limit on December 13.