Chief Justice Raut promises to resolve old cases pending at SC

Kathmandu, December 6 — Chief Justice Prakashman Singh Raut has stated that the Supreme Court will prioritize resolving 8-year-old pending cases within this fiscal year.

Speaking with journalists at the Supreme Court, Raut said, "We are giving priority to the 8-year-old cases and working to resolve them this year."

Currently, there are 154 pending cases that are 8 years old at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has 17 sitting judges at present. The court has prioritized these cases, making it impossible for lawyers to postpone hearings.

The Supreme Court manages hearings through a lottery system. Four types of lotteries are used to determine which case will be heard: individual bench, seniority of judges, case grouping, and a joint bench selection, where judges choose their colleagues for the bench.

On Wednesday, Supreme Court spokesperson Achyut Kuinkel provided further details, saying, "The cases are divided through four types of lotteries."

The case groupings are pre-arranged by the Supreme Court administration in the weekly hearing schedule. Chief Justice Raut explained that judges do not know which case they will be assigned until after drawing lots. He said, "Only after drawing the lot do judges find out which case they are handling."

The Supreme Court is prioritizing cases such as those related to orders from previous bench decisions and habeas corpus petitions. These include urgent matters like interim orders and discussions regarding detainees' release.

The court has been managing hearings through the lottery system since December 1, 2021. According to spokesperson Kuinkel, hearings begin with individual benches, followed by the formation of joint benches.

In joint benches, judges select their colleagues through the lottery system. Kuinkel added, "In a joint bench, judges first select their partners, and then the cases are chosen." Both the selection of judges and cases are done via the lottery system.

During the case selection process, discussions about new issues presented in the bench the previous day take place. Chief Justice Raut emphasized, "We have made the morning Zero Hour more dynamic."