Acting CJ Mishra allocates task

KATHMANDU, Aug 5: After the Parliamentary Hearing Committee (PHC) rejected Deepak Raj Joshi to be the Chief Justice, Acting Chief Justice, as the senior most Justice at Supreme Court, Om Prakash Mishra, allocated the task to other Supreme Court Justices today.

Joshi took leave after he was rejected by PHC. So, Acting CJ Mishra allocated the responsibilities to other Justices, said Joint Spokesperson at SC, Nagendra Kalakheti.

No constitutional crisis
Meanwhile, to the unfolding situation in the judiciary, some legal practitioners have doubted the constitutional normality while some argued it would not create any problem.

The umbrella organization of legal practitioners Nepal Bar Association had mentioned in a press release on Friday that rejecting Joshi as CJ was a blatant interference of PHC on judiciary.

However, former Attorney General and senior advocate Raman Shrestha ruled out the possibility of constitutional crisis because PHC is the final body to take decision after the recommendation of the Constitutional Council. “There are a lot of other such examples in the world. Even Sri Lanka had rendered a judge disqualified to be CJ,” he reminded.

He further argued that after PHC rejection, the rejected one would face moral crisis to deliver justice.

Senior advocate Dr Chandra Kanta Gyawali also reiterated that Joshi’s rejection would not invite constitutional crisis at all. There is a constitutional provision that one among Om Prakash Mishra and Cholendra Shumsher Rana would be recommended by Constitutional Council to the PHC again.

Although it is the first such case in Nepal, the US has so far disqualified three from becoming CJ and nine from Justices through voting.

Gyawali reminded that although constitutional expert and drafter of the US constitution John Rutledge was recommended for CJ by then President George Washington in 1795, he was rejected by the Senate. RSS