The Supreme Court (SC) has formed a Constitutional Bench to hear writ petitions filed against the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR).
According to SC Spokesperson Arjun Prasad Koirala, the Bench comprises Chief Justice Prakashman Singh Raut and Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Phuyal, and Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma.
On the night of September 12, the President dissolved the Parliament on the recommendation of the incumbent government, which was formed following the September 8–9 Gen-Z protests that had forced former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to step down from his position.
A total of 16 writ petitions have been registered at the SC, demanding a mandamus order to revoke the dissolution of the lower house and restore it. The preliminary hearing begins today.
The hearing will take place in the SC Annex Building, as the main building was damaged in an arson attack during the September 9 protests. The incident led to the suspension of the Court’s regular activities, except for the registration of habeas corpus and other essential writs and hearings. Writ registration and hearings resumed on October 14.
Advocates Dr Premraj Silwal, Yubaraj Paudel, Kirtinath Sharma Paudel, Ayush Badal, Maqabul Miya, Khadak Bahadur Shah, Dambar Prasad Shiwakoti, Dal Bahadur Dhami, Prakash Bhujel, and Bipin Dhakal are among the petitioners.
Earlier, a full court meeting chaired by Chief Justice Raut had decided to register and hear the writ petitions related to the Parliament’s dissolution.
Meanwhile, the SC’s digital system that was damaged during the arson and vandalism has been restored, with all case data found to be safe. The Supreme Court is now operating five benches to hear cases.
