KATHMANDU, Oct 16: The Judicial Council (JC) led by Chief Justice Om Prakash Misha is making preparations for the appointment of judges at the Supreme Court (SC) and high courts immediately after the Dashain festival.
"The Judicial Council has made serious preparations for the appointment of justices at the Supreme Court and high courts," an informed source at the JC told Republica. "The appointments are likely to take place immediately after the Dashain festival," he added.
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These appointments will be the first appointments of justices at the SC after the formation of a left government with a two-thirds majority."Two positions of justices are already vacant in the Supreme Court while the positions for a dozen and a half judges are vacant at the high courts," the source said, adding, "There is a provision of advance recommendation for the apex court judgeship by one month so the JC can recommend three names for the apex court in the upcoming appointment."Chief Justice Mishra is going to take compulsory retirement on December 31 due to age limit.
Therefore the JC is making preparations for meeting the deadline for selecting judges prior to his retirement. Former chief justice Gopal Parajuli did not fill in a position at the Supreme Court and Deepak Raj Joshee could not initiate any process to fill in the vacancy during his five-month tenure as the acting Chief Justice.
Parajuli had promoted three high court judges to the apex court and conducted examinations for district court judges and Joshee had appointed the district court judges following Parajuli's retirement but he still could not fill in the vacancy in the apex court and high courts."JC is considering former attorney generals and senior advocates and the high-ranking former Nepal Bar Association leaders for the apex court judgeship," the source said.
Senior advocates and former NBA vice-president Hari Upreti, Tika Ram Bhattarai and Surendra Mahato are the race for judgeship from the legal profession while Chief Judges Prakash Dhungana and Kumar Chudal are also at the top of the list from among the career judges for the apex court appointment. Dhungana is currently serving as the chief judge at the Patan High Court and Chudal is serving at the Pokhara High Court."I am not interested in judgeship," former NBA vice-president Bhattarai said, adding, "I will continue my legal practice and am not interested in becoming a judge."
