CIAA probing Ameco deal
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has initiated an investigation into the deal between Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) and the Beijing-based Ameco company.
The constitutional anti-graft body initiated the probe after the deal involving overhaul of two Boeing 757 engines came in for public questioning.
CIAA secretary Bhagawati Prasad Kafle, in a written reply to the Supreme Court on Friday, said an investigation into the Rs 400 million deal is under way.
The matter has now landed in the Supreme Court, which is holding a hearing on it Monday.

SC directs NAC, tourism ministry for comments

The Supreme Court directed the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture (MoCTCA) and a petitioner to attend in its hearing on Monday.A division bench of Justices Bala Ram KC and Ram Kumar Prasad Shah issued the order directing advocate Nanda Prasad Adhikary, who had filed a case of public interest litigation (PIL), and NAC and MoTCAC to attend its hearing on Monday over the demand of vacating the SC’s stay order it had issued issued on November 14. The bench told the both parties that they couldn’t request to extend time for the case.The bench was acting on a demand of the NAC management that sought the vacation of the SC’s stay order to stop its process of overhauling Boeing 757 by a Chinese company, Ameco, Beijing. Justices Anup Raj Sharma and Sharada Prasad Pundit had issued the stay order on November 14, citing that the invocation of the special authority of Managing Director of the NAC, Gautam Das Shrestha, could not justify the urgency to decide on repairing the Boeing. The NAC MD had invoked the authority without calling tender form the eligible companies to repair the Boeing.Seeking the apex court’s intervention on the issue, Adhikary had filed the PIL, which charged Shrestha of violating Clause 66 of Public Procurement Act 2063.

Juvenile court opens in Morang
It appeared very strange for people observing hearings at the district court on Thursday. The district court judge was in the center flanked by two lay judges. They heard a case and gave a verdict in a case of rape against a minor. Thus started a juvenile court for the first time in the district.
Along with judge Nabaraj Upadhaya, psychologist Mina Koirala and social activist Aruna Kafle presided over the court for cases involving minors.
"Such hearings will be effective in giving justice to the people," said Upadhaya. The juvenile court has been formed as per existing legislation concerning children.
The court has a judge, two child psychologists and two social activists for the purpose. However, only three of them including the judge will hear a given case. They will make inquiries with the children not in the court but in a private room.
The child psychologists and social activists, who were selected for the juvenile court, have been given training for six and three months respectively in legal procedures.

JC Draws Flak for Hiding Info About Judges' Names


Lawyers on Wednesday called the Judicial Council (JC) to make public its recent decision that gave clean chit to 85 district and appellate court judges, following an inquiry into the complaints against them."The JC must make public the names of the judges who got the clean chit," vice-president of the Nepal Bar Association Hari Prasad Uprety said. "It cannot ignore its public accountability and its decisions can't be above the public's right to information."On last Thursday, the JC had decided to give clean chit to 85 judges and decided to investigate into the complaints against 22 more district and appellate court judges."The people have the right to know and comment on JC's decision under the Right to Information Act 2007," Uprety said, adding, "It will not only boost the morale of the judges who got the clean chit but also improve the image of the judiciary as a whole."Advocate Lav Mainali said the JC has no privilege to hide information once the inquiry is finished. "Since the Right to Information Act 2007 has already come into force, the JC cannot ignore it," he added. "I don't see any harm in making the names of the judges public. It will help only boost the judiciary's morale and to discourage people from filing unsubstantiated complaints against the judges," he added.Chairman of the Constitutional Lawyers' Forum Kumar Regmi said: "The JC works under the interim constitution and the Judicial Council Act, 1990, which do not sanction any privilege to it to hide its decisions.""The decisions of the JC on judges are matters of public importance and public should have access to these decisions," Regmi said, adding, hiding the information will only tarnish the judiciary's image and slide people's confidence on judges.

Kailali jungles face encroachment


Encroachment is going unabated in the jungles along the Basanta corridor in Kailali, thanksto poor implementation of law and order and support from some political quarters, said a forest official . This corridor links Bardiya Wildlife Reserve with Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve.In the past six months, 3,000 households have occupied land in 30 places in the Basanta area alone, Man Bahadur Swar, district forest officer of Kailali, told.“Out of 47,000 hectares of jungle area here, at least 2,100 hectares have been encroached upon recently. If the encroachment goes on at this rate, there will be no forest at all in Kailali district in 10 years,” he said. The Kailali DFO recently carried out a survey in the area.With 2.08 lakh hectares of jungle, Kailali is one of the most densely-forested districts. In 2001, the government and local communities removed the encroachers, who had occupied some 5,000 hectares of land.The district can collect revenue equivalent to Rs one billion per year if the encroachment is brought to a halt, according to Swar.He said the jungle always suffers due to unstable political situation because neither the governments nor the leaders give priority to conservation.“Some organisations and some political parties are supporting the landless people and the freed Kamaiyas. The intention could be praiseworthy, but it is inviting fake squatters to destroy the jungles,” he said.Santosh Nepal, field coordinator of the Tarai Arc Landscape Programme, said: “The encroachment in the area is so rampant that the whole patch of jungle is now ‘decorated’ with plastic sheets donated by NGOs”. “Why they were given land may not be our concern. But why were they given forest land? This is going to create problems,” he said.

Razen Manandhar@himalayatimes

NAC moves SC over Ameco row
Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking revision of an interim order relating to overhaul of two jet engines by a Chinese company.
In the application, the national flag carrier apprised the court of the compensation sought by Beijing-based Ameco following the November 13 interim order that prevented the company from overhauling two jet engines of NAC Boeing 757 aircraft.

In a recent letter to NAC, the company sought US$ 11 million in compensation and threatened litigation in the wake of the interim order.

The China-based company was awarded the bid to overhaul the engines of the troubled airline but the Supreme Court stopped the bid through its interim order.

Earlier this week, the Public Accounts Committee of parliament also ordered NAC to find a solution to the problem created by the interim order.

Govt body flouts SC directive again and again

:The Supreme Court sought help from government secretaries to implement its directives issued to the Land Reform Office to submit documents related to a case pending in the court.The apex court sought help from the secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, secretary at the Ministry of Land Reform and the Director General of the Department of Land Reform.The Supreme Court said the Saptari-based Land Reform Office did not send documents related to a case despite its six directives. The Supreme Court, in writing, asked the government authorities to implement its directives and warned to initiate a contempt of court case if the directive is not implemented.The SC was acting on a writ petition filed by Sabina Thapa against the government. Thapa had moved the Supreme Court after she lost a case at the Land Reform Office.The court added that the judicial process has been disturbed and it has been unable to issue a verdict on the case due to the negligence of the Land Reform Office.

Judicial Council gives clean chit to 85 judges

-The Judicial Council headed by Chief Justice Kedar Prasad Giri last week gave clean chit to 85 district and appellate court judges against whom there were complaints of misusing of authority and indulging in irregularities while deciding cases. Nothing unexceptionable, this, on the face of it.Making public its decision today, JC member Motikaji Sthapit, the representative of the PM at the JC, said the JC is not compelled to make public on what basis it gave clean chit to those judges. Neither was he ready to make public the names of the judges who were found ‘clean’.“The names of the judges must be made public. Otherwise, it will be a violation of the Right to Information Act 2007,” President of Supreme Court Bar Association, Prakash Raut, told this daily.“We have decided to drop the cases as there were no grounds to initiate further process against the judges,” Sthapit added.Most of the complaints were pending in the JC for the past seven years.However, the Judicial Council has decided to probe charges against 22 appellate and district court judges. Sthapit dismissed demands from journalists to make public the names of the judges under the Right to Information Act, 2007.

JC member Motikaji Sthapit said the JC is thinking whether or not to make permanent three ad hoc SC judges. “The JC will decide on the issue soon.” Three ad hoc judges — Pawan Kumar Ojha, Rajendra Prasad Koirala and Tahir Ali Ansari — will complete their tenure by mid-December. Ojha was appointed a SC judge by king Gyanendra. He was the A-G and was promoted after defending the RCCC that had arrested a number of democratic leaders, including former PM Sher Bahadur Deuba. It was disbanded after the SC ruled it was unconstitutional. Defending the king’s move, Ojha had claimed that a Hindu King would always be above the constitution.

Ananta Raj Luitel @ himalyatimes

Oath administered

A judge at the Kathmandu District Court, Narayan Prasad Dahal, administered the oath of office to around 200 notaries public at the Office of the Attorney-General (A-G) on Monday. A-G Yagya Murti Banjade was also present on the occasion. Judge Dahal will administer the oath of office to other notaries public at the Attorney-General’s Office on Tuesday as well. — HNS

Upadhyaya charges seven parties of betrayal
Former chief justice and chairman of the committee that drafted the 1990 Constitution, Former chief justice and chairman of the committee that drafted the 1990 Constitution, Biswonath Upadhyaya has accused the seven parties of betrayal.
Referring to the postponement of the Constituent Assembly (CA) election, Upadhyaya said this was the result of betrayal by the seven parties.
Speaking at a programme organised to discuss the role of civil society in the current context, he said that pressure from civil society was also not adequate.
Another former apex court judge and chairman of the committee that prepared the initial draft of interim constitution 2007, Laxman Prasad Aryal, urged the actors of civil society to come up with common voice to pressure the seven parties into holding the election.
The programme was organised by Human Rights Organisation of Nepal.

Judiciary proposes own security
Amidst growing insecurity in courts across the country in recent days, the judiciary has proposed to the government that it have its own security, including marshals, so that it can arrange its security itself.
According to a proposal submitted to the Finance Ministry recently by the Supreme Court for approval, the judiciary plans to have 639 security personnel. The security strength will comprise of 265 court marshals and 374 general security personnel.
If approved, this will be the first time the judiciary is going to have its own security in its history. At present, the government is providing security only to the Supreme Court and the 16 appellate courts while there is no security arrangement for 75 district courts.
The judiciary has floated the security plan to the government at a time when insecurity among judges, lawyers and courts has become a matter of concern. The plan is being considered in the Finance Ministry.
Til Prasad Shrestha, spokesperson of the Supreme Court, said Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat "agreed to the plan in principle" at a recent meeting with Chief Justice Kedar Prasad Giri, judges and high-ranking officials of the apex court.
According to Shrestha, the court marshals, first of their kind in Nepal's judiciary, though they are common in judiciaries in other countries, will be responsible for internal security and maintenance of decorum during court sessions. Similarly, general security personnel will provide outer security ring to the courts.
The state coffers will have to bear an estimated 56.14 million rupees for the proposed security plan of the judiciary.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court administration also wants to set up an electronic gate at its entrance, Shrestha said.
Judicial administration to be revamped
In the meantime, the judiciary has also proposed a revamp of its bureaucracy in a bid to usher reform in the institution. The bureaucracy will be made top-heavy instead of the present-bottom heavy so that it will be effective in dispensing prompt justice to people.
According to the plan, altogether 570 junior posts will be scrapped while 206 officer-level posts will be added.
With the new posts proposed in civil and security service in the judiciary, the judiciary's human resources will be 5,272 against the present strength of 4,423.
The plan proposes to create a new post of registrar general to lead the judicial bureaucracy, while one more post of registrar will be added. At present the registrar is the head of judicial bureaucracy.
"The judiciary in many countries has the post of registrar general. Besides, the post is needed due to growing work load. The executive has chief secretary while the legislature has secretary general. So the judiciary needs a registrar general so as to be at par with the executive and the legislature," Shrestha told the Post.
The plan further proposed creation of five new posts of joint registrars, 38 deputy registrars and 90 section officers so as to make the judicial bureaucracy officer-oriented. The cost of to-be-added in terms of human resources is estimated to be Rs 18.88 million rupees.
"We are holding discussions with officials at the Finance Ministry regarding the financial aspects of our plan," said Shrestha.
Commercial bench with 12 judges to be set up
In a separate proposal to the government, the Supreme Court has asked the government to create 12 new posts of judge to set up commercial benches at six different appellate courts. The government has already decided to establish commercial benches but the decision is yet to materialize. Such benches will specialize in cases relating to trade and commerce.

@kathmandupost

SC directs govt to promulgate Act for refugees

Making public the full text judgment on the detention of four Pakistani citizens, the Supreme Court directed the government to promulgate an Act for refugees.“The government should promulgate an Act in this regard,” the full text of the judgment states. Though the verdict was pronounced on September 24, the division bench of judges Sharada Prasad Pundit and Bala Ram KC made public the judgment today.The bench states that the apex court cannot intervene in the executive domain directing whether or not sign any international treaty on refugees. Following detention, Pakistani nationals Usman Javed, Kaishif Mehomood, Mehmood Rasid and Memhood Rasid had moved the apex court, claiming that their rights as asylum-seekers were violated after the government authority took them into custody.The apex court also directed the government and the Department of Immigration to review 10-year imprisonment it slapped on them on the charge of staying in Nepal without permission. It also directed the government not to deport the four Pakistanis not to deport them to Pakistan, where their lives are in threat.The bench, however, states that the refugees do not have the right to violate the law of the country, where they are staying as refugees.As their lives were under threat in Pakistan, the four visited Nepal with Pakistani passports in 2005. Advocates Hari Phuyal, Prakash Mani Sharma and Basanta Prakash Adhikari had pleaded on their behalf in the apex court.

NRB guv case verdicts put off again

Two keenly awaited judgments, one by the Supreme Court and another by the Special Court, were put off today as the judges involved in the hearing of the cases were busy today with the marriage of their respective daughters.The apex court, which had put off its judgment in the case of alleged international killer Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj, today put off its judgment again as Justice Top Bahadur Magar was busy with his daughter’s marriage. His daughter got married today.Judge Komal Nath Sharma took leave for his daughter’s marriage and so the Special Court postponed the issuance of judgment in the corruption case filed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) against the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Bijaya Nath Bhattarai, and Executive Director Surendra Man Pradhan.A division bench of Supreme Court Justices Anup Raj Sharma and Top Bahadur Magar has been considering the case against Sobhraj and a three-member bench of Special Court judges Bhoopdhoj Adhikary, Komal Nath Sharma and Cholendra SJB Rana has been considering the case against Bhattarai and Pradhan.Today was the second postponement of judgment in Sobhraj’s case and the third in the Governer’s case.The judgment on Sobhraj was postponed on November 4 after Justice Anup Raj Sharma went on a visit of lower courts in Kathmandu Valley.According to a Joint Registrar of the apex court, Shreekanta Paudel, the judgment in Sobhraj case will be on December 19.Sobhraj had moved the apex court after the Patan Appellate Court had upheld the judgment of the Kathmandu District Court that had slapped a 20-year jail sentence on him.The two top officials of the Nepal Rastra Bank Bhattarai and Pradhan have been awaiting the Special Court verdict for four months after the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed a corruption case against them. The case related to irregularities in a Financial Sector Reform Project at the Nepal Rastra Bank.

Judges, lawyers face threats
Kathmandu District Court (KDC) on Friday held a murder case hearing in a rather unusual way - amidst tight security.

The court's Chief Judge Narayan Prasad Dahal said a security cordon was inevitable as a mob on Thursday had threatened two defense lawyers leading to deferral of the case till Friday. The mob wanted the lawyers not to plead on behalf of the accused.

The incident is just the tip of the iceberg. In recent days, lawyers as well as judges have been facing threats from mobs and sometimes from Maoist cadres and its affiliate organizations, which put at risk the people's right to independent justice and to be defended in a court of law, legal experts say.

"Mobs come into the court almost daily," says Chief Judge Dahal. "Mob activities are growing."

The Friday’s incident at the district court follows a threat issued by a Maoist trade union to advocates Jyoti Baniya and Ram Krishna Simkhada on November 15. The trade union even staged demonstration against lawyers and a lawsuit they had filed at the Supreme Court (SC).
According to Nepal Bar Association (NBA), at least 15 lawyers received threats in the course of discharging their professional duties during last six months alone.

One case of threat involves a high-profile abduction and murder case relating to minor Bibek Luintel.

A group of people who wanted one of the accused "punished", surrounded the houses of advocates Tika Ram Bhattarai and Lava Mainali for being the defense lawyers of the accused. Bhattarai's house was surrounded twice. Then the lawyers gave up the case.

The growing threats against advocates have resulted in the accused not being able to defend themselves in a court of law. For instance, Sakhina Manandhar, an accused in Bibek's murder, could not find a lawyer to defend her application (for bail) in the SC last Monday after her previous lawyers - Bhattarai and Mainali - quit the case. The SC decided on the application even though no lawyer represented Manandhar. She is still in custody.

"According to the principle of criminal justice, a case should not be decided in the absence of lawyers of an accused. Her right to be defended was not respected by the court. The court should not have decided the case," Bhattarai said.

In the meantime, Judge Dahal remembers that he had to hide lawyers on one or two occasions in his chamber to protect them from possible attacks from mobs.

Judges too face threats

In a recent instance, a group threatened Supreme Court Justice Ram Kumar Prasad Shrestha during a hearing. Justice Shrestha put off the hearing of a murder case recently.
"Hearings of at least three cases have been deferred recently due to mobs," says Hemanta Rawal, co-spokesperson of the Supreme Court. "The mobs try to influence judges."
Similarly, KDC Judge Dahal said that his colleague Shiva Naryan Yadav has already been escorted twice to his home from the court to avoid possible attack by mobs.

Judges say that pressure-tactic activities of mobs at the court premises or in the hearing chambers of the court affect their decisions. "We get mentally distracted. We cannot take normal decision," Supreme Court Justice Anup Raj Sharma says. "We generally defer the case to another day."

Many people throng the courts on the day of hearing to "influence". The parties believe that presenting a crowd at the courts on the day of hearing will influence judges to decide in their favor. SC Justice Sharma said the growing threat against lawyers and judges have been taken seriously by the Supreme Court. "The Security Committee of the Supreme Court met on Friday and discussed the issue. We are holding a meeting with Nepal Bar Association as well in this regard."

BY KIRAN CHAPAGAIN @ kathmandu post

SC Shelves Sobhraj Case Verdict Yet Again

The Supreme Court put off the pronouncement of judgment on an appeal filed by suspected international serial killer Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj against a lower court’s decision to convict him on the charge of killing an American national, Connie Jo Bronzich.According to assistant spokesperson for the Supreme Court Hemanta Rawal, the pronouncement has been postponed because Justice Top Bahadur Magar, who has been looking into the case, has taken a leave of absence.A division bench of justices comprising Magar and Anup Raj Sharma were scheduled to pronounce the verdict . Earlier, SC had put off the announcement of the final verdict on November 4 as justice Sharma had gone to inspect several courts, including the Patan Appellate Court, Special Court, the Administrative Court and the Revenue Tribunal.The bench has been considering Charles Sobhraj’s appeal against the conviction on the alleged killing of Bronzich and a separate appeal filed by the government challenging the lower court’s decision to issue clean chit to Sobhraj on a case relating to the possession of a fake passport while entering Nepal in 1975.

Any violence against women is crime: UN

The Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Violence Against Women, Yakin Ertürk, and the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Councilon Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Manfred Nowak today said that many countries fail to recognise some forms of violence against women as crimes.They said this on the occasion of International Day Against Violence Against Womenwhich falls tomorrow.Saying that cultural or religious paradigms are still invoked to condone female genital mutilation, the execution and murder of women, marital rape and other forms of violence, they called for application of international instruments and development of strategies to condemn and punish torture.They have pointed an increased and explicit recognition of some forms of violence against women in international and national courts as amounting to torture and ill-treatment, the best known examples being rape by private or public actors in conflict or in custodial settings.Other forms of violence against women, such as physical orsexual violence in an intimate relationship or female genital mutilation, if committed with the acquiescence of the State, may qualify as torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as well.

SC judge points at lapses in interim constitution
A senior judge of the Supreme Court (SC) has said that the interim constitution has failed to build independent and effective judiciary.
Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, SC judge, suggested that the new constitution that would be written should correct such issues.
"Independent and effective judiciary and rule of law is imperative for the success of democracy. I think the interim constitution has failed in this regard," he said, speaking at a workshop on 'State Restructuring and Judicial Rights' held in Lalitpur, Saturday.
Rayamajhi said that provisions in the interim constitution such as authorising the government to deploy chief justice and judges; chief justice having to present annual reports to the Prime Minister; parliamentary hearing on judges' appointment; and inclusion of government official in judicial council as being against the norms of independent judiciary.
Meanwhile, at the same programme, another SC judge Anup Raj Sharma said that despite 'a big political change,' the working style and thinking of the courts could not change.

Notary public code issued

The Notary Public Council Nepal (NPCN) issued the code of conduct for notaries public with the objective of serving the commoners effectively.The NPCN has issued certificates to seven-year-old experienced lawyers to work as notaries public. They can verify, attest, authenticate public documents and affidavits. They can also attest personal certificates and translate them. Invoking Clause 37 of the Act Relating to Notary Public, 2007, the NPCN issued the code of conduct prohibiting the notaries public from involving themselves in corrupt and illegal activities and misusing theauthority delegated by the state. If any notary public is found to be involved in attesting fake document, he may be jailed for up to four years and be fined Rs 2 lakh.At a training programme organised by the NPCN today, Attorney General Yagya Murti Banjade called notaries public to be cautious while exercising their authority.Banjade, who is also chairman of the NPCN, called the lawyers to work in line with the authority given to them. Now the gazetted government officials will not exercise the notary public authority.

Broaden admin court jurisdiction: CJ
Chief Justice Kedar Prasad Giri on Friday said it was necessary to extend the jurisdiction of the Administrative Court in order to lessen the workload of the Supreme Court.
"If the Administrative Court is given authority to deal with cases related to transfer and promotion of employees of both government offices and state-owned corporations, it will greatly lessen the workload of the Supreme Court," Giri said.
Inaugurating a two-day program on "State, Structure and Judicial Authority", organized by the Administrative Court, Giri said he hoped that executive and legislative branches of the government would take steps to enact necessary laws for the extension of the court's jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court judges, high ranking bureaucrats, security officials, lawyers, civil society leaders, journalists and politicians are taking part in the program that aims to suggest ways to address the existing problems at the judiciary, according Kashi Raj Dahal, chairman of the court.
Speaking on the occasion, State Minister for Labor and Transportation, Ramesh Lekhak, said democracy cannot function without an independent judiciary. "For the success of democracy, an independent, strong and impartial judiciary is necessary," Lekhak said.

Threatened lawyers refuse to defend murder accused

A group of lawyers refused to defend the accused in the Devi Panta murder case under the jurisdiction of the Kathmandu District Court (KDC) after a group of people threatened them.Ram Sharan Panta, Hari Sharan Panta, Dipak Panta, Len Kumari Panta, Rudra Panta, Ram Krishna Panta and Japanese national Tomoko Yamana Hirotaka are the accused in the murder case himalayatimes reports.Chanting slogans, the people organised a protest outside the premises of the Kathmandu District Court and warned the lawyers not to defend the murder accused.A group of advocates, including Hari Krishna Karki, Sabita Baral and Khagendra Adhikari, were present before the bench to defend the accused.However, the advocates bacracked after the agitating people threatened them.The prosecutors accused Ram Sharan of killing his wife, Devi, on November 12 and others of the family of hatching conspiracies against her after he married Japanese national Hirotaka.They filed a chargesheet against the accused for the alleged killing of Devi, the first wife of Ram Sharan Panta, of Ichanguarayan village development committee-9, Kathmandu.As the prosecution lawyers — Surendra Thapa and Yam Baniya — presented their arguments, the defence lawyers told judge Sushma Lata Mathema, who was hearing the case, that they cannot defend their clients in such a situation and sought protection.“How can we defend the accused when people have been threatening us with dire consequences if we defended our clients?” advocate Karki told after the hearing.“We call on the judge to take up the issue seriously and talk to the Supreme Court and the government to ensure protection for the lawyers,” the advocate added.