Hearing Continues on RCCC Formation Case

Kathmandu, Nov 16-The hearing regarding the constitutionality of the formation of the Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC) continued on Tuesday. The apex court said the hearing on the case would be held next week.

Pleading on behalf of the Commission, former Attorney General Krishna Ram Shrestha said that the Article 127 was provisioned to settle the crisis in the nation. So, the Article has given overriding power to His Majesty the King and it is more stronger than the other Articles during times of national crisis. The bench comprised of justices Kedar Prasad Giri, Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, Ram Nagina Singh, Anup Raj Sharma and Ram Prasad Shrestha.Such type of discretionary rights have also been given to the president of India in the Article 392 of its Constitution — to remove difficulties, additions, omission and modification, he said.“The Commission was formed to work effectively to root out corruption as per the letter and spirit of the Royal Proclamation of February 1,” Shrestha said.Responding to the argument presented by the petitioners, Shrestha argued that if the Article 127 could be used to defer the elections, no questions should be raised on the formation of such type of commission to give continuity to control widespread corruption, he argued.

Shrestha also claimed that since the King has not set qualifications for the RCCC officials, nobody has the right to raise the level of their qualifications. He also said the formation notice by the King does not say that there should be judges and lawyers in the RCCC to hear corruption cases.The RCCC was formed to control corruption, as other anti-corruption watchdogs could not work effectively, he claimed. Advocate Mithilesh Kumar Singh said that the petitioners were not clear about which provisions of the Constitution had been violated in the formation of the Commission, so the petitions should be rejected altogether.As the Commission was formed as per the order of His Majesty the King and not through any ordinance, its legality could only be put to test in the parliament, he argued.Advocate Kausal Kishor Dibedi said that His Majesty had formed the Commission to maintain economic discipline in the nation. “Our Constitution has not privileged anybody to indulge in corruption, corruption is a criminal act.”Advocate Ganesh Bahadur Dhungana said that His Majesty had formed the Commission as per the demand and popular spirit of the people to cope with the widespread corruption.

The hearing will continue on November 21. The hearings on separate writ petitions are being conducted on different dates since the last week of August.

A five member bench of justices Kedar Prasad Giri, Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, Ram Nagina Singh, Anup Raj Sharma and Ram Prasad Shrestha have been examining the legality of the RCCC.