Thursday, July 27, 2006

House Calls For Giving King's Powers To SC

To make existing laws compatible with the May 18 declaration of the House of Representatives, the government has put up a bill at the Parliament Secretariat to transfer the King's authority to the Supreme Court under judicial administration.

The government has proposed to amend the Judicial Administration Act 1991 to determine the number of Appellate Courts by the Supreme Court, with the consent of the Council of Ministers. Earlier, this power was exercised by the King, at the recommendation of the Council of Ministers and the Judicial Council as per Article 35(2) of the Constitution of 1990. The King also exercised the authority to fix the location of the Appellate Courts and District Courts, with the consent of the Council of Ministers.

The government has also proposed to amend Clause 3(2) of the 1991 Act. Minister for law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Narendra Bikram Nemwang proposed the bill to amend other several Acts to strip the powers of the King. The government also proposed to amend the Judicial Council Act 1990, stripping the King of the exclusive power to appoint the Secretary of the Judicial Commission headed by the Chief Justice.

The bill also proposed to amend provisions of existing laws wherein annual reports of constitutional bodies ought to be presented to the Prime Minister. Earlier, these reports used to be presented to the King.

The government has also proposed to amend the Pashupati Area Development Trust Act 1989, Trust Corporation Act 1976, Lumbini Development Trust 1985 and acts relating to several universities for declaring the Prime Minister as their patron, replacing the King, Queen and the Crown Prince as patrons of these bodies.

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