People won't accept another constitution: Upadhyaya

Kathmandu Oct 9-Chairperson of the drafting committee of the Constitution of Nepal 1990 and former chief justice Bishwa Nath Upadhyaya has warned not to discard the present constitution saying that the king would have no place in the constitution to be formulated by the people in case the latter introduced a new constitution.
Talking in Kantipur Bahas, a talk programme of Kantipur Television, Upadhyaya Saturday said that people will not accept any constitution issued by the King against the people's wish.
Claiming that all the activities of the King after October 3 2002 are unconstitutional, Upadhyaya said that the Supreme Court (SC) can ask the king's appointees to justify their appointments according to the constitution. "If the appointment is not as per the Articles and Clauses of the constitution, the court can nullify the appointment," he said.
Upadhyaya said that the SC has the right to ask the constitutionality of the king's appointments.
"Although the current constitution doesn't allow the Supreme Court to directly ask about the king himself, it does have the right to ask the constitutionality of his appointments," he added.
He added that the formation of Royal Commission for Corruption Control citing Article 127 is unconstitutional as the article is only to solve obstacles in the implementation of the constitution.
Referring to the ongoing debate about the need of election of the constituent assembly, Upadhaya advised to go for the referendum to decide whether the people are in favor of preset constitution or the election of the constituent assembly.