Submit your Article

Since the Supreme Court previously invalidated the appointment of Uddhav Thapa as Chief Minister of Koshi Province, the court’s judgment was quite clear. Actions prohibited directly are also prohibited indirectly under the law. The act of voting is restricted for the speaker or chair of the House unless it involves a tiebreaker vote.

The speaker must maintain a politically neutral and unbiased stance, other arguments are flawed reasoning. Israil Mansuri, despite not being the elected speaker, should adhere to the speaker’s protocols since he is presiding over the assembly proceedings as the speaker.

In other countries, this situation could lead to legal action as it goes against the system and violates the Constitution.

The only viable solution is to dissolve the Koshi assembly and go for fresh polls, as it appears unlikely for any coalition to form a government. The assembly should not be made hostile for a long time.

The author is constitutional lawyer

The Supreme Court on Sunday issued an order, paving the way for bringing top decision-makers of the time, including former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai, under the purview of police investigation in connection with the Lalita Niwas land-grab—the transfer of ownership of government land located at Baluwatar to individuals. 

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had confirmed earlier that the transfer of the land to individuals began during the prime ministership of Nepal and Bhattarai.  

But the CIAA had exonerated Nepal and Bhattarai in the case, pointing that investigation into the two prime ministers’ cabinet decisions were collective policy decisions that were beyond its jurisdiction. In the wake of reports leveling charges against them in connection with the case, Bhattarai and Nepal had said that they were innocent. 

Sunday’s order came from a division bench of justices Anil Kumar Sinha and Kumar Chudal in response to a habeas corpus petition from Yog Raj Paudel, one of the accused in the scam that has already brought 17 people under its net as a police probe continues. 

The top court instructed that high officials involved in making Cabinet decisions and senior ministry level officials involved in the decision-making process related to the transfer of the government land also be brought under investigation, citing decisions made on 11 April 2010, 14 May 2010, 13 August 2010 and 4 October 2012 without further delay.   

Those implicated in the case so far include Communications Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut, Bhatbhateni Supermarket Chairman Min Bahadur Gurung, former election commissioner Sudhir Kumar Shah, Dharma Prasad Gautam, Gopal Karki, Shivaji Bhattarai, Ghaman Kumari Karki, Baburaja Maharjan, Ramesh Kumar Pokharel, Dev Narayan Maharjan, Lokhari Ghimire, Dhruba Prasad Aryal, Krishna Bahadur Raut, Yograj Paudel, Narayandas Mishra, Rudra Prasad Shrestha, Bal Krishna Shrestha and Binod Paudel.