Hearing on 19 writ petitions against House dissolution begins from today

KATHMANDU, May 27: Hearing over the 19 writ petitions registered against the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR) is scheduled to begin from Thursday. 

According to the Supreme Court (SC) administration, a total of 30 writ petitions have been filed against the President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s move to dissolve the lower house of parliament on May 22 at the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.

The Supreme Court has scheduled the cause list of the 11 writ petitions on Friday. The hearings over those petitions will be carried out at the Constitutional Bench. 

Following the House dissolution on May 22 by President Bidya Devi Bhandari at the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, 146 outgoing lawmakers belonging to the opposition alliance reached the apex court in-person on Monday and registered a writ petition demanding House restoration and appointment of Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba. The petitioners claimed that the PM KP Oli-led government does not have a legitimacy to remain in power as the president had already called the MPs for new government formation. 

President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved parliament at the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, as per the Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal. Earlier, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba laid a claim for a new government with the support of 149 lawmakers as  the President had called upon the members of the lower house of parliament to stake their claim for the new government formation as per Article 76 (5). Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who had opted not to take a trust vote in parliament as per Article 76 (4), also staked a claim for a new government. President Bhandari, however, rejected both the claims.