The constitutional bench that was formed to hear the writ petitions filed against the dissolution of the House of Representatives has run into controversy again. The government side has sought the removal of Justices Deepak Kumar Karki and Anand Mohan Bhattarai from the constitutional bench.
Attorney General Ramesh Badal has sought the removal of Justices Karki and Bhattarai from the constitutional bench that formed based on seniority. He has requested the concerned justices to recuse themselves as he has doubts against them.
Attorney General Badal further stated that even if the two concerned justices were removed there would be no difficulty in forming another constitutional bench to hear the writs filed against the House dissolution. He said that he had requested for their removal so that justice would prevail.
The constitutional bench formed to hear the writs today comprised of Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana and Justices Deepak Kumar Karki, Meera Khadka, Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada and Anand Mohan Bhattarai.
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, on the recommendation of the government, had dissolved the House of Representatives and announced the dates for mid-term elections on May 22. She had cited that the claims made by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is also chairperson of CPN UML, and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba to form the government as per Article 76 (5) of the Constitution of Nepal did not hold sufficient ground to confirm that they would win the vote of confidence in the Parliament.
