King's order are constitutional: AG Ojha

Kathamndu Nov 22-At a time when parties are raising questions about the role of constitutional monarchy, Attorney General (AG) Pawan Kumar Ojha said that all the orders issued by the king are constitutional, since he is a devotee of Hindu religion and the constitution has given him special responsibility.

Pleading for the government at the Supreme Court Monday in the case challenging the constitutionality of the controversial Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC), AG Ojha argued, "Since the king formed the RCCC exercising special authority given by the constitution, its constitutionality cannot be questioned."

"The constitution has given special responsibility to the king as a devotee of Hindu religion. He formed the RCCC to fulfill that responsibility," he further argued. "Such orders are implemented as per the constitution and law."

While stating that Article 35 (2) of the present constitution (which makes the advice and consent of the Council of Ministers mandatory for the king to issue any order), functions only when there are peoples' representatives, he argued. "The executive authority now rests with the king as there is no parliament."

He also argued that the king took the step to bring the derailed constitution back on track.

In a query about how the RCCC obtained the powers of a court and whether or not it has been working in the spirit of an adversarial system, AG Ojha argued that the 1990 constitution and laws have not yet discarded the old law, which functioned under the civil law system. "Forest and land-related offices are still functioning like the RCCC under previous laws," he claimed.

He also argued that RCCC was needed as the pressure of work on the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and the Special Court was very high.

The special bench is examining the constitutionality of the controversial RCCC, formed after February 1 royal takeover of the King to look after corruption related cases.

Ojha was pleading before the special bench of justices Kedar Prasad Giri, Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, Ram Nagina Singh, Anup Raj Sharma and Ram Prasad Shrestha.