Speaker and deputy can carry on : SC

Kathmandu, Dec 14-The Supreme Court on tuesday said the Speaker of the House of Representatives and his deputy can remain in office till the time they file in nomination papers for elections to the House of Representatives. A single bench of Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel upheld the decision of the acting registrar of the Supreme Court, Durga Prasad Dawadi, who had rejected a writ petition filed by a group of lawyers, including Hari Bahadur Mainali, challenging the tenure of the Speaker and his deputy.

The petitioners had said Speaker Taranath Ranabhat and his deputy Chitra Lekha Yadav continued in office even though their five-year tenure expired almost eighteen months ago.

The bench also said today that since the Constitution has a clear provision for an issue like this, the Supreme Court had already ruled in favour of the Speaker and his deputy last year.

It had ruled that Speaker and his deputy would remain in office till the time they file in their nominations for elections to the House of Representatives.