Clause on no-trust motion sought in interim statute

Legal experts said that there should be a provision of “no-confidence” motion in the interim constitution to remove the prime minister otherwise the head of the government may become a dictator.
Addressing a programme at the Reporters’ Club, lawmaker and former president of the Nepal Bar Association Radheshyam Adhikari said: “There is no constitutional provision under which the prime minister can be removed by the legislative body through a vote of no-confidence. The interim constitution is a document of political understanding. If political understanding among the parties concerned is broken there should be a provision of removing the PM through a no-confidence motion.”
He said that the PM seemed to be the de facto head of the state as the interim constitution has stripped off all powers of the king till an election to a constituent assembly. “The PM should not be made so powerful that he cannot be removed constitutionally by the legislative body,” he said.
Newly elected president of the Nepal Bar Association Bishwokant Mainali said that the interim constitution could not be judged from constitutional principle, “as it is a document of political understanding among parties who fought for democracy”.
“Some of the clauses of the interim constitution are undemocratic and autocratic. They need to be amended before the nation goes for constituent assembly elections, otherwise NBA would take to the streets,” Mainali said. He said that it was not appropriate to swear in the chief justice of the Supreme Court by the prime minister who is the head of the government.
“I would have suggested that the SC justice should have taken oath of office before the constitutional council,” he said. He, however, conceded the fact that there was room for amendment in the interim constitution as the PM himself had assured of making amendments in it in due course of time.
NBA general secretary Raman Shrestha said, “One of the best aspects of the interim constitution is that it is the first time in Nepal’s history that a constitution has been declared by the people, who can also make amendments, if need be.”

Ex-minister denies role in forming RCCC

Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of then royal cabinet, Niranjan Thapa has denied his role in formation of dissolved Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC).Filing his statement before the high level commission formed to probe the excessive force used by the RCCC against the democratic leaders, Minister Thapa denied that he had any role in the formation of the dissolved Commission.Reports quoted one of the members of the commission as saying that Thapa claimed that he was working as the chairman of the Nepal Law Reform Commission at the time of the formation of the RCCC and later became Law Minister, adding, "He said he was not involved in the formation of the RCCC.” “I don’t know who designed the RCCC, but I forwarded a proposal at the Cabinet meeting, calling for extension of RCCC’s tenure,” the member quoted Thapa as saying. The member also said that Thapa denied taking action against democratic leaders.According to information gathered by the commission, Thapa had played a key role in designing the RCCC with the intention to implicate democratic leaders in corruption cases. The government formed following the success of the Jana Andolan (People's Movement) II has formed a commission headed by former Appellate Court Judge Madhav Prasad Ojha to probe the excesses committed by RCCC against the democratic leaders.The RCCC detained former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuwa and former Minister Prakash Man Singh and also interrogated leaders and high ranking officials.The commission is scheduled to submit its report to the government in a week.

CJ Poudel administers oath of office to Justices

Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Poudel administered the oath of office and secrecy to all Justices of the Supreme Court as per the Interim Constitution 2007.

Poudel administered oath of office and secrecy to 11 permanent Justices of the apex court in the first phase and seven temporary Justices in the second phase amidst a function held at Poudel’s office this morning.

CJ Poudel himself took the oath of office and secrecy from Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Thursday.

According to Article 162 (2) of the Interim Constitution promulgated on January 15, all judges need to take fresh oath of office and the judges who fail to do so will be automatically dismissed from their posts.

A special Cabinet meeting on Wednesday had decided that the CJ should take the oath of office from the PM and that the CJ would administer the oath of office to other SC justices.

Lawyers urge PM to take fresh oath

Constitutional experts have urged Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to take the oath of office in the Legislative Parliament, saying political leaders have introduced the mandatory oath taking provision to control judges.

The PM should have sworn in Chief Justice only after taking the oath of office under the new constitution, constitutional lawyer Purna Man Shakya told .

“No one is above the constitution. Every official should take oath under this constitution. The PM is not above the Interim Constitution.”

Though Koirala had taken oath in the parliament as an MP of the interim legislature, he is yet to take the oath of office under the constitution as prime minister. “How can the Chief Justice and justices, who are the real protectors of the constitution, be required to take the oath under the constitution, while the PM is not required to take the oath?” Shakya questioned.

“Every official should take oath after the promulgation of a new constitution.” Through oath-taking, politicians want to control the judges, an SC justice said.

A senior advocate, Basudev Dhungana, termed the decision to make it mandatory for judges to take fresh oath “a political decision”.
He, however, said, “Since the PM and other officials took fresh oath after the movement, they might not want to take fresh oath.”

Poudel Sworn In as CJ by PM Koirala


Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala sworn in the Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel at a special swearing-in ceremony at Singh Durbar this afternoon.

On Wednesday, a special cabinet meeting decided that the CJ should take oath of office by the PM.

Justice and other justices will be sworn in by the CJ in accordance with Article 162 (2) of the interim constitution that explicitly states that the judges will have to take fresh oath and anyone refusing to do so would stand dismissed.

The cabinet decision puts an end to the speculation over who will swear in Chief Justice Paudel since the constitutional clause merely states, "Oath will be imparted by anyone who is authorised to do so by the government."

After the ceremony, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said that the interim government would be formed within two weeks.

Koirala also said that the process for management of arms and soldiers of the Maoists would be complete in a week or two. "Interim government will be formed after the complete management of arms and armies", Koirala said adding there will be no possibility for the existence of any autocratic forces. "We, all should contribute to establish new Nepal", Koirala said.

Prime Minister to swear in Chief Justice

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala will swear in Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel at a special swearing-in ceremony on thrusday. The decision to this effect was taken at the end of a special cabinet council meeting on wednesday.
The decision to have Chief Justice and other justices take fresh oath of office was taken today in accordance with Article 162 (2) of the interim constitution that explicitly states that the judges will have to take fresh oath and anyone refusing to do so would stand dismissed.
“The cabinet decided on wednesday that Chief Justice should be sworn in by Prime Minister tomorrow. Other judges will be sworn in by the Chief Justice,” said Minister of Land Reforms and Management Prabhu Narayan Chaudhari .
The decision puts an end to the speculation over who will swear in Chief Justice Paudel since the constitutional clause merely states, “Oath will be imparted by anyone who is stipulated to do so by the government.”
mainwhile A full court meeting of the Supreme Court judges decided to continue work in SC and subordinate courts even without taking fresh oath of office as required by the Interim Constitution.
“We have decided to continue our regular business, as a majority of judges are against halting justice dispensation process,” a SC judge who attended the meeting . Justice Anup Raj Sharma, however, opposed the idea.
“The full court has decided to take fresh oath later after the government prepares procedures as per Article 162 (2) of the Interim Constitution,” Supreme Court spokesperson Durga Prasad Dawadi said in a press release issued after the meeting. “According to the full court, judges’ continuation of jobs without taking oath of office is not against the spirit of the Interim Constitution,” it stated.
Most of the judges expressed their views in favour of continuing work saying that it would be impractical to halt regular court business. Some judges opined to stick to the provision of the interim statute that requires them (judges) to take fresh oath of office before hearing a case.
Most of the judges, barring Justice Anup Raj Sharma, heard cases after the full court meeting, while Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha was not present in the office .
As soon as the Full Court meeting concluded, Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula went to the Supreme Court and presented a draft of procedures for administering oath of office to the judges. “Sitaula said the government would finalise the procedures soon,” a judge said. Talking to journalists, Sitaula said he took up the draft (of oath taking procedures) prepared by the government with the judges.
Meanwhile, newly elected president of the Nepal Bar Association, Bishwa Kanta Mainali, expressed concern over judges’ decision to hear cases before taking fresh oath of office.
“It was wrong on the part of judges to hear cases before taking fresh oath, as the Interim Constitution has made the same mandatory,” Mainali said.
Former Attorney General Sarvagya Ratna Tuladhar also opposed the full court decision saying that it was not an appropriate interpretation of the Interim Constitution.
“Fresh oath is a must for a judge before hearing a case, as the Interim Constitution has already come into force,” Tuladhar added.

Nemwang elected Speaker


Subash Chandra Nemwang on Wednesday was sworn in as the Speaker of the newly formed Interim Legislature-Parliament.
Today's sitting of the interim parliament formally elected the former speaker of the dissolved House of Representatives, Nemwang as the new speaker by a unanimous consent.

Nemwang's appointment was unopposed in the Interim Legislature.

Earlier today, the eight parties had agreed to continue with Nemwang and Chitralekha Yadav as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the parliament respectively despite the CPN-M demanding the new Speaker to be someone from their party.

The parties had opted for a general consensus to decide on the new Speaker instead of holding elections for the same after CPN-UML and CPN-M both lay claim to the post of Speaker.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the top leaders of four major parties ? Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML, CPN-M and NC-D ? had resumed today at the PM residence, Baluwatar after yesterday's meeting to decide on the Speaker, Deputy Speaker of the interim legislature ended inconclusively.

Similarly, a meeting of the CPN-UML standing committee today had also demanded that the new Speaker be decided today itself.

According to UML's standing committee member Jhalanath Khanal, the UML was presenting the party views regarding the Speaker appointment during today's meeting of the eight parties after a thorough discussion over the latest political developments in the country in today's meeting.

"The CPN-UML has not made demands for any specific posts, it is merely urging to give continuity to Subash Nemwang," Khanal said.

The UML leader further said that the CPN-UML is not in the parliament for the sake of garnering posts and that if attempts were made to defame the party in this regard, it would boycott the parliament.

Mainali elected NBA President


Senior Advocate Bishwo Kant Mainali has been elected President of the Nepal Bar Association (NBA), an umbrella organization of the professional lawyers of the country.
Mainali, in favour of the left panel, had represented the Progressive Faction of the lawyers.

Likewise, advocate Raman Kumar Shrestha has been elected General Secretary of the NBA while Sarita Bhandari Baral was elected treasurer of the association.

Both belong to the progressive faction.

Meanwhile, latest vote counts lean in favour of the left panel followed closely by right panel (Loktantrik Faction).

As the vote counting is underway, the results for the other posts are expected to be declared by Wednesday evening.

The Bar elections for a total of 17 posts including that of the NBA President and Vice-President commenced on Saturday in 33 election centres across the country.

Citizenship distribution begins

The teams dispatched by the Home Ministry have started distributing citizenship to people from Monday.

The Ministry had dispatched 520 teams with 3640 staffs. The team will reach all the Village Development Committees (VDCs) and municipalities to distribute citizenship certificate. In mountain region, the campaign will be held later due to harsh cold climate these days.

The government had earlier decided to dispatch such teams to distribute citizenship as per the new Citizenship Act passed by the parliament. The government aims to distribute citizenship particularly to millions of people of Terai region.

The decision to distribute the citizenship was made after politicians and people from Terai complained that they were being denied citizenship.

On the other hand, a section of politicians, MPs and civil society members have criticised the new Citizenship Act claiming that its provisions are very controversial and could lead to distribution of citizenship even to foreigners.

Interim parliament endorses Interim Constitution-2063

The first meeting of the interim parliament unanimously endorsed the Interim Constitution 2063 Monday evening.

Chairperson of the first session of the interim parliament Bal Bahadur Rai announced the endorsement of the interim constitution as none of the lawmakers opposed the proposal for endorsement. Home Minister Krishna Prasad Situala presented a proposal on behalf of the Prime Minister for endorsement of the interim constitution.

The interim constitution that replaces the constitution of 1990 has come into effect from today itself.

Addressing the session, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who leads the Maoist team in the interim parliament, said, “Today is beginning of new history. Never before had Nepali people got the opportunity to write their constitution. Now the people are going write their constitution through the constituent assembly, which is the main commitment of the interim constitution.”

“This is a historic day also in terms of balancing of political power,” he added, “In principle, the document has declared the end of monarchy and establishment of democratic republic.”

He described the interim constitution as a document of political agreement and that only the constituent assembly would bring a ‘complete constitution’. Mahara, who will also lead the Maoists in the interim cabinet also, reiterated his party’s stance in favour of democratic republic, revolutionary land reform, restructuring of the state and formation of national army.

“A new Nepal free of feudal suppression and foreign intervention has been our commitment and we are firm on that,” he said, adding that his party would play a constructive role in the interim parliament.

Addressing the session, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) Narayanman Bijukchhe urged the parties representing in the interim parliament to move ahead with consensus.

In the 330-seat interim parliament the Nepali Congress has 85 MPs, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist) have 83 members each, NC (Democratic) 48, Rastriya Prajatantra Party 9, Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandi Devi) 5, People’s Front Nepal (PFN) led by Amrik Sherchan and NWPP have 4 MPS each and the PFN factions led by Chitra Bahadur KC and Chitra Bahadur Ale have 3 and 2 MPs respectively. Similarly, the United Left Front has 3 members and Rastriya Janashakti Party has 1 member in the interim parliament.

The next meeting of the interim legislature is scheduled for Wednesday 2:00 pm. The government has announced Tuesday as a public holiday

Interim statute not democratic: Expert

The interim constitution, if promulgated tomorrow as it has been agreed, will not be a democratic constitution since people cannot raise voice against proceedings of the interim legislature, said Bhimarjun Acharya, a constitutional expert.

Speaking at an interaction on ‘Role of Print Media in the Formation of New Nepal’, he claimed: “There is a provision in the interim constitution that anyone questioning proceedings of the legislature, speech made by any member of the legislature may be sentenced to jail for a maximum of three months.”
According to him, the interim statute has failed to ensure the democratic rights and people’s rights to question the activities of the members of legislature in interim parliament. It has failed to address the mandate and incorporate people’s sentiments expressed during Jana Andolan-II.
Former Minister of Law Nilambar Acharya alleged that media personnel are silent about the flaws of the interim statute. “If the media are not united in pushing democracy and righteousness, lawmakers who commit mistakes would be encouraged and we won’t be able to achieve our goal of holding CA polls.” Acharya also launched a monthly magazine Khoji.

Sunsari district court vandalised

Relatives of a man who was killed in an accident at Inaruwa on December 18, vandalised the Sunsari district court this evening for issuing a verdict against their wishes.

A single bench of judge Madhav Prasad Pokharel had issued the verdict ordering releasing Hem Narayan Urao, driver of the bus which knocked down Ram Lal Poddhar of Inaruwa, after imposing a fine of Rs 90,000.

Poddhar’s relatives and civil society members, who were staging a sit-in in front of the court’s main gates from 10:00 am today started vandalising the court office from 6:00 pm. They also shouted slogans against judge Pokharel and broke furniture.

The police controlled the situation about half an hour later, said SP in Yadav Raj Khanal.
“We had demanded action against Urao for murder but the court released him after imposing on him a fine of Rs 90,000 only,” said late Ram Lal’s nephew Santosh Dev. Irate kin have called strike from tomorrow, he said.

Lila Gautam, a judge in the Sunsari court, confirmed the incident and said this was a simple incident and had happened during a transitional period.

Only minor changes related to JC made
The government ignored the major recommendations of the SC submitted to PM GP Koirala seeking amendments in different provisions of the Interim Constitution 2007.

The government only changed some minor provisions related to the Judicial Council (JC).

The minor changes relate to the composition of the JC recognising the senior most judge of the SC as the senior member of the JC. The initial draft of the interim statute had said that the seniormost judge of the SC will be a junior member of the JC and a legal expert nominated by the PM and a legal expert nominated by the NBA were to be senior to him in the JC.

CJ Dilip Kumar Paudel had yesterday submitted the SC’s recommendation to PM Koirala.
The SC had said judges should be impeached on grounds of incompetence, misbehaviour and failure to discharge duties, that the CJ be appointed by the JC rather than by the PM. The court wanted to make the SC’s annual report public as practised now and opposed submitting it to the PM, allowing the parliament to discuss it.

Cabinet approves interim constitution

A meeting of the Council of Ministers today approved the draft interim constitution.
The cabinet approved the interim constitution and decided to submit it to the parliament secretariat.
The draft interim constitution will be tabled at the parliament on Monday for promulgation.
Top leaders of the ruling seven-party alliance and the Maoists had finalised the interim constitution on December 16.
As per the agreement between the SPA and the Maoists the interim constitution will be promulgated on Monday and interim legislature will be formed on the same day.
Lawmakers have criticised the parties for not providing sufficient time for discussing the interim constitution, as voices have been raised from various quarters demanding some amendment in the interim constitution.
The Maoists will be inducted in the interim legislature and interim government after promulgation of the interim constitution.

Nepal Bar Association elections underway

The election of the Nepal Bar Association (NBA) on Saturday went underway to elect the new leadership in the association's central working committee.A total of 9539 legal professionals in 33 voting centers across the country are vying for a position in the 17-member central working committee of the umbrella organization of Nepalese lawyers.

According to NBA vice-chairman Sher Bahadur KC, the election which began today at 9am will continue till 4 in the evening.Vying for the post of NBA chairman are senior lawyer Basanta Ram Bhandary from Loktantrik group, advocate Bishwa Kanta Mainali from the Progressive group, and independent candidates Trilochan Gautam and Tara Nath Dhunga.

KC informed that the there could be a delay in the publication of the final results of the election since ballot boxes from centers outside the valley have to be brought to Kathmandu before the votes can be counted.Likewise, KC also said that 1250 votes had been dropped in the ballot box at the NBA head office in Ramshah Path.

OHCHR calls for support to court probe into disappearances

The Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR-Nepal) Friday called for support to Supreme Court Task Force to investigate Bhairabnath Battalion Disappearances saying that it would be crucial to clarify the disappearance cases. A press statement issued by OHCHR-Nepal said that it had taken note of a Supreme Court order issued on 9 January 2007 that a Supreme Court Task Force investigate disappearances carried out by the Bhairabnath Battalion.

The order was made in response to a petition filed by persons who had been detained at Maharajgunj Barracks in Kathmandu. The Task Force was originally established by the Supreme Court in August 2006 to investigate disappearances of individuals named in other petitions. It said OHCHR-Nepal had long been concerned about the government's failure to conduct impartial investigations intothese disappearances, which are described in OHCHR-Nepal's May 2006 Report of investigation into arbitrary detention, torture and disappearances at Maharajgunj RNA barracks, Kathmandu, in 2003-2004, as well as into some 300 other cases of disappearances by the Nepalese Army reported to OHCHR.

While OHCHR-Nepal continues to believe that a credible, competent, impartial and fully independent commission must be set up to investigate and clarify all disappearance cases, the Supreme Court order is an important step towards achieving that goal, the statement added.It is essential that the Task Force be provided with sufficient resources and logistical support to conduct its investigations, and the Nepalese Army and Nepal Police must fully co-operate with it."I am deeply concerned at the lack of response by the government to our reports on disappearances by the Bhairabnath Battalion.

The families of those who have been disappeared continue to have their calls for truth and justice ignored, and this lack of action remains a major stumbling block to establishing a culture of accountability in Nepal, which is so essential to the protection of human rights.It is crucial that the government fulfil its responsibility to establish the fate of the disappeared and ensure that those responsible are brought to account." said Lena Sundh, Representative in Nepal of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Supreme Court spokesman appointed

The Supreme Court has appointed co-registrar of the SC Durga Prasad Dawadi as spokesman of the Supreme Court and Deputy Registrar of SC, Hemanta Rawal as the assistant spokesman for disseminating information on the proceedings of the court.Earlier, registrar Dr. Ram Krishna Timalsena was the spokesman. RSS

Lawyers Set to Choose Their Leaders
Around 9,000 lawyers across the country are set to cast their vote to elect new leadership of the Nepal Bar Association on Saturday.
According to central member of the NBA Tika Ram Bhattarai, 9194 lawyers will cast their votes on Saturday. Lawyers will elect 17-member executive body for the next three years. NBA’s current president advocate Shambhu Thapa’s team will complete its tenure after two months.
Senior advocate Bishwokanta Mainali is leading the progressive panel while senior advocate Basanta Ram Bhandari is leading democratic panel.
According to chief election officer of the NBA, Speaker Subas Nembang will not cast his vote this time. He has informed the NBA election office that will not exercise his voting right this time as he is currently holding a public post. Nembang is a professional lawyer and was elected general secretary of the NBA a couple of years ago.Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula and State Minister for Labour and Transport Management, Ramesh Lekhak, Attorney General Yagya Murti Banjade and some MPs are yet to inform whether they will cast their votes or not. But Lekhak has recently transferred his polling centre from Dhangadi to Kathmandu.There will be regional polling centres in main cities like Biratnagar, Jhapa, Rajbiraj, Janakupur, Hetaunda, Pokhara, Butwal, Dhangadi, Mahendranagar and Dipayal along with sub-centres.
Advocate Hari Prasad Uprety is contesting for the post of vice-president from Central Development Region and Raman Shrestha is contesting for the post of General Secretary from the progressive panel. Advocate and Law Professor Purnaman Shakya is contesting for the post of vice-president and Upendra Keshari Neupane is contesting for the post of General Secretary from the democratic panel in the central development region.

SC for status of 446 held by royal govt

The Supreme Court on wednesday ordered the government to make clear the status of 446 persons arrested and detained by the royal government and of whom nothing is known now.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel and Justice Tahir Ali Ansari issued the order after a hearing. The bench ordered the authorities to inform it whether the 446 were released or not.
The court is to be informed through the Office of the Attorney General. But the court has not fixed any deadline for getting the information. The court order was in response to three separate writ petitions filed by General Secretary of the Human Rights Organisation of Nepal Baburam Giri and few other human rights associations. The petitioners had sought the court order for the release of 446 people.
Most of them were arrested and detained on the allegation of being Maoists’ sympathisers.

PM refuses SC judges' suggestions to amend interim statute

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has refused to receive the suggestions put forward by the Supreme Court Judges seeking amendments to the interim statute.According to sources, PM Koirala twice turned down Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Poudel’s request to meet him to submit the draft of the suggestions.The Chief Justice had requested an appointment with the PM yesterday evening and this morning.Sources added that the prime minister refused to meet the CJ due to his “busy schedule”.A meeting of the SC justices earlier this week had unanimously decided to ask the political parties to amend the judicial provisions in the interim constitution after they found some of the provisions "insufficient for ensuring judicial independence."Last Sunday, a meeting of the SC's Full Court, which is the apex-policy making body of the judiciary, hammered out a 13-point suggestion to amend the judicial provisions in the interim constitution. The suggestions relate to the appointment of the chief justice, impeachment, formation of the Constitutional Council, Judicial Council, the oath taking process of the CJ, and SC’s annual report publication, among others.