Chief Justice appointment row : Nation may see an Acting CJ
Kathmandu, July 6- High-ranking officials in the government and the judiciary are mulling appointing an Acting Chief Justice, as chances of selecting the next Chief Justice seem remote under the circumstances. A high-ranking government official told this daily that if the Constitutional Council cannot conduct any meeting in the absence of a prime minister in the country, an Acting Chief Justice might be selected. “If there is no way to select a Chief Justice, there might be an Acting Chief Justice,” he added. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tara Nath Ranabhat, has said it would be unconstitutional to hold a meeting of the Constitutional Council in the absence of the Prime Minister. Government officials and some in the judiciary have started homework to appoint an Acting Chief Justice, an official close to the incumbent Chief Justice Hari Prasad Sharma said today.According to him, Sharma today held a meeting with the chairman of the Nepal Law Reform Commission, Niranjan Thapa, who advised the CJ to suggest any senior justice at the Supreme Court as the Acting Chief Justice. Thapa today met Sharma in the CJ’s chamber this afternoon and advised him to activate Article 87 (4) of the 1990 Constitution which provides authority to the King to designate an Acting Chief Justice. “If the office of the Chief Justice becomes vacant, or the Chief Justice is unable to carry out the duties of his office due to illness or any other reason, or his being outside of Nepal, His Majesty may designate the senior most Judge to act as the Acting Chief Justice,” the article states.When contacted, Thapa said he did not want to say anything. However, senior most justice of the Supreme Court Dilip Kumar Paudel said: “Officials the Constitutional Council should work properly while selecting the next Chief Justice. Nobody has contacted me on the issue”. If seniority is given priority to select the next CJ, according to the Constitution, Paudel should be the CJ. Speaker Ranabhat, who is the ex-officio member of the Council, however, said today there would not be any Acting Chief Justice for a long time. He also said there is no option but to appoint a Prime Minister to activate the Constitutional Council.
Courtesy : Himalayan Times

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