Lawyers meet Home Minister

Kathmandu, March 23- The government will continue to provide funds to the judiciary even if it does not support the government, a lawyer quoted Home Minister Kamal Thapa as saying on wednesday.

“Though the government had refused to allocate funds demanded by the Supreme Court for the purpose of celebrating the golden jubilee of the apex court, we have recently told the officials that we will ‘review’ our decision. We are ready to provide a certain amount for the purpose,” advocate Basu Sharma quoted Thapa as saying.

Thapa was talking to some lawyers considered loyal to the royal palace in his office in Singhadurbar.

The lawyers, including Bishnu Bhattarai, Laxman Karki, Rajiv Banstola, Dharma Raj Regmi, Ravi Hada, Dev Raj Katuwal, Raj Kumar Thapa, Basudev Sharma, called on the government to appoint them as judges and legal advisers in government-owned corporations. Thapa also talked with them on the verdict, which disbanded the controversial Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC).

“We first refused to provide funds for the golden jubilee celebrations because they had demanded a huge sum for the purpose. Later, we said we are ready to provide certain amount for the purpose,” Sharma quoted Thapa as saying.

During the meeting, we told Thapa that the government shying away from supporting the judiciary will mean that the King, as the head of the cabinet, is not helping the courts,” said another lawyer Laxman Karki.

“We also suggested him not to give any impression that the government is not cooperating with the court,” Karki said.