KATHMANDU, May 1: Four former chief justices of the Supreme Court have urged the government to withdraw without further delay the impeachment motion filed at the parliament secretariat against Chief Justice Sushila Karki, arguing that the motion was tabled without sufficient evidence.
Former chief justices Ram Prasad Shrestha, Kalyan Shrestha, Min Bahadur Rayamajhi and Anupraj Sharma demanded that the government immediately withdraw the motion and create an environment for Karki to resume her duties with due dignity.
Their statement comes a day after the government registered the impeachment motion against CJ Karki.
Various youth organizations protest against impeachment motion
The former chief justices said they found that the government registered the impeachment motion with the motive of influencing some sub judice cases, not cooperating in implementing judicial directives, weakening the judiciary, dragging it into unnecessary controversy and undermining the independence of the judiciary.
“Such an act may fulfill someone’s vested interests but the judiciary, which is a pillar of democracy, will be badly damaged and will collapse,” reads the statement issued jointly by the ex-justices. “Such activities seen at the political level will definitely vitiate the environment for delivering justice in a free, fair and independent manner.”
They found that the political parties have set out a long list of accusations with vague explanations instead of giving facts and decisions to support the allegations. “It shows the impeachment motion was guided by certain unseen interests and prejudices or possibly with a motive to fulfill certain political interests,” reads the statement. “We have also found that the provision on impeachment has been misused.”
They have alerted the ruling parties not to create unnecessary friction among the different branches of the state but to work in proper cooperation between them.
They have accused the government of not furnishing any reasonable grounds for substantiating the accusations levelled against CJ Karki.
