Bar on warpath against the Bench

Nepal Bar Association has objected to what it called “efforts to appoint judges unconstitutionally”.

According to the Bar, the Judicial Council under Chief Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha has decided to convene a meeting for recommending candidates to be appointed as judges barely a week before his retirement, in contravention of Article 141, (1) and (3) of the Constitution of Nepal.

Earlier too, after the Bar staged a sit-in during a Judicial Council meeting, a working group was formed to address the Bar’s concerns, to no avail. Bar President Gopal Krishna Ghimire said they have no other option than staging protests, including sit-ins, if the Judicial Council recommends candidates for judgeship in violation of the Constitution. 

Chairman Ghimire said, "Nepal Bar Association has spoken for a year against the regulations of the Judicial Council, which contradict Articles 141 (1) and (3) of the Constitution. As the Judicial Council did not heed our objections even in the course of a year, we organized a protest, a meeting to warn the council, coinciding with its meeting.”

He added, "If the Judicial Council continues with the ‘unconstitutional appointment process’ by ignoring our objections, we will convene a working committee meeting of the Bar and announce a series of protests. This includes boycotting judges appointed unconstitutionally. We have postponed today's program, but will continue our protests tomorrow.”

The Bar has announced a protest on the Supreme Court premises after 1:00 pm on Sept 26 (Thursday) against the ‘unconstitutional move’ of the Judicial Council.