Wednesday, October 11, 2006

SC issues show cause in Katawal appointment case

The Supreme Court on tuesday issued show cause notices to government authorities on why Rookmangud Katawal was appointed the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS). Following a hearing today, a single bench of Justice Damodar Prasad Sharma directed the authorities to explain why Katawal was appointed the army chief. The bench was responding to a writ petition filed by advocate Dilhari Sharma challenging Katawal’s appointment.

The bench gave the authorities the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Defence Minister and his Ministry, the army chief and the Army Headquarters 15 days to furnish their replies. The Cabinet, on September 5, had promoted Lt Gen Katawal as the CoAS.

Challenging the appointment, Sharma claimed that the Cabinet’s decision was wrong as Katawal had suppressed April’s pro-democracy protests during the King’s direct rule and had produced a false birth certificate while joining the army.

The petitioner also claimed that Katawal was supposed to retire three years ago, but is still in service after amending his date of birth through a royal decree. In today’s hearing, senior

advocate Radheshyam Adhikary, advocates Bhim Bahadur Dhakal, Manu Bahadur Gurung and the writ petitioner himself demanded an order to scrap the appointment.

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