SC to boost security in Tarai courts

A full court meeting of the Supreme Court justices decided to adopt security measures in courts in the Tarai as per the recommendation of a panel formed to resolve security problems there.The panel comprising justices Ram Prasad Shrestha, Sharada Prasad Pundit and Rajendra Kumar Bhandari had submitted its report to Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel on August 9. “The meeting has decided to implement the report,” assistant spokesperson of the apex court Hemanta Rawal said.“The SC administration will adopt suitable measures after consulting the chiefs of various security agencies,” Rawal added. “Either we will request them to provide additional security for judges and court staffers there or we will transfer them (judges and court staffers of hill origin) to suitable places,” he added. According to Rawal, the meeting has reviewed the security situation in the Judiciary and demanded more security in the benches. “The decision has been taken keeping in mind the possible threat to judges while hearing cases in benches,” he added.The meeting also decided to implement another report prepared by a separate panel of judges that studied a case concerning conversations between a person and court staffers regarding the issueance of a verdict in his favour. The panel comprising judges Top Bahadur Magar, Damodar Prasad Sharma, and Ram Kumar Prasad Shah has recommended the SC administration not to promote Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel’s former personal assistant Shreekrishna Bhattarai and Section Officer Baburam Dahal for the next five years for allegedly assuring one Rajesh Shakaya to issue a verdict in his favour by influencing judges. The panel also suggested to prevent Shakya from entering any court of law as per court rules, as he defamed the image of the Judiciary.The panel also recommended the monitoring of judges’ code of conduct and its implementation. It also suggested to frame a code of conduct for court journalists and provide training to those do not have legal knowledge for the dissemination of legal news.