Articles 72 and 127 over-used: Lawyer

Constitution day special

Kathmandu, Nov. 9: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal-1990, an important outcome of the 1990 people’s movement for democracy, has entered 16 years of its promulgation.

The present Constitution, formulated as a document of balance of political power after garnering public consent, is taken as one of the best democratic constitutions in the world.

Inclusion of constitutional monarchy, multiparty democracy, adult franchise and parliamentary system of governance in the preamble of the Constitution as the inalienable provisions of the Constitution have made it the best democratic constitution. His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev has time and again reiterated his commitment to constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy.

Ten governments have functioned under the present Constitution before October 4, 2002 and three governments under the Prime Ministers appointed by His Majesty the King as per Article 127 of the Constitution after that. The present government is functioning under the chairmanship of His Majesty the King after the historic Royal step of February 1, 2004

Advocate Bhimarjun Acharya on Tuesday said that Articles 72 and 127 of the Constitution, which are considered exceptional Articles to be used very sparingly as per the constitutional norms, have been widely used during the last 15 years.

Speaking at a program on the eve of Constitution Day organized by Reporters' Club Nepal here today, Acharya said that Article 72, about Ordinance, and 127, about Power to Remove Difficulties, were used more than 100 times while promulgating ordinances and about 25 times, respectively.

"The frequent use of Article 127 by the king after 2002, October 4 and 2005, February 1 can be considered serious attacks and violations of constitution and constitutional norms," he charged.

The constitutional expert said that to address the overall existing political and constitutional problems, the nation should go ahead with the process of formulating a new constitution.

Referring to world history, Acharya claimed that the country has two logical grounds - to reorganize the complicated political system, and to regain respect and confidence of the people, parties and king in the constitution - to make a new constitution.

Former minister Nilambar Acharya said that the constitution and democratic system were pushed into serious crisis when they became the target of the palace since 1990.

"In the absence of parliamentary system, the Supreme Court has been refusing to entertain several issues related to violation of the constitution based on Article 31, as if it is above the other 132 Articles, which is a wrong perception," Acharya said.

Former National Assembly member Dipta Prakash Shah, said that since the existing constitution, which is in a defunct state, could not pave the way out of the crisis, the nation should go for referendum to get a fresh mandate.