KATHMANDU, Aug 23 The Supreme Court (SC) has issued an interim order directing the federal and provincial governments not to spend the money allocated for the Constituency Development Fund.
A full bench comprising Chief Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha, Justice Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada, Justice Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, Justice Anil Kumar Sinha, and Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut issued the interim order on Wednesday, prohibiting the governments from using the funds intended for distribution through members of parliament.
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The federal government reintroduced the controversial Constituency Development Fund through the current fiscal year's budget, reviving it after discontinuation by the previous CPN-UML-led government due to concerns about its widespread misuse. This renewed budget arrangement allocates Rs 50 million to each of the 165 constituencies under the Parliamentary Infrastructure Development Program.
In line with the federal government, provincial governments also allocated specific budget amounts for similar programs in their annual budgets.
After the federal government and seven provincial governments included contentious provisions for the Constituency Development Fund in their budgets, Advocate Trilok Bahadur Chand filed a writ petition challenging their decisions. The petitioner argued that such programs were inconsistent with the norms of the Constitution. The apex court has additionally instructed the federal and provincial governments to provide a written explanation within the next seven days regarding the budget allocation for the Constituency Development Fund.
