Hearing at Constitutional Bench put off owing to CJ Rana’s health issues

KATHMANDU, June 7: Ongoing hearing on the writ petitions against the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR) has been postponed for Monday and Tuesday as Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR, who chairs the five-member Constitutional Bench, has some health issues. 

According to Supreme Court (SC) sources, CJ JBR informed the court administration about his health issues. 

The next hearing on the case will resume on Wednesday. The petitioners were informed accordingly. 

Hearing on writ petitions filed against the dissolution of the House Representatives (HoR), which was disrupted for a few days owing to the row over the composition of the Constitutional Bench resumed on Sunday. 

The Bench, which Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR formed on May 28, comprised  Justices Dipak Kumar Karki, Dr Aanand Mohan Bhattarai, Tej Bahadur KC and Bam Kumar Shrestha including Rana himself. The composition of the Bench, however, was questioned by the lawyers pleading in favor of the writ petitioners who demand the Supreme Court (SC) reinstate the 275-member lower house of parliament.

CJ Rana made the recent reshuffle on Sunday on the basis of the seniority of SC Justices. With the recent reshuffle, Justices Dipak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Anand Mohan Shrestha have been picked in the Bench headed by Rana himself.  Although justice Hari Krishna Karki is third in seniority among the SC Justices, he was included in the bench owing to his health issues.