KATHMANDU, Jan 6: The ongoing hearing on the writ petitions filed against the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR) at the Supreme Court has been put off until next week.
Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana, who chaired the Constitutional Bench to conduct hearing on the writ petitions, made the decision to put the off the hearing on the writ petitions until January 13 after one of the justices in the five-member Constitutional Bench headed by CJ Rana himself announced not to be part of the bench.
Justice Hari Krishna Karki announced not to be part of the bench as lawyers filing the writ petitions questioned his presence in the Bench. Arguing that Karki had earlier served as Attorney General of Prime Minister K P in his previous stint, the lawyers maintained that Karki will have a potential conflict of interests in the case.
Hearing on writ petitions filed against HoR dissolution today
Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana had earlier formed a five-member constitutional bench under him. The bench includes Justices Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, Tej Bahadur KC, Anil Kumar Sinha, and Karki. With the announcement of Karki not to be part of the Bench, a new justice will be included in the bench should Chief Justice Rana decide to continue with the five-member Constitutional Bench.
As many as 13 writ petitions have been filed against the decision of Prime Minister Oli to dissolve the House of Representatives. The preliminary hearing on the writ petitions on Wednesday was postponed as justices and lawyers expressed differing views over whether to form a larger bench or continue hearing at the Constitutional Bench.
