Final hearing on National ID case today

Kathmandu, December 27 — The Supreme Court has continued its hearing on the national identity card dispute, which began on Thursday, into Friday. The case, being heard by a bench of Justices Mahesh Sharma Poudel and Nityananda Pandey, will have its final hearing today.

On Tuesday, the government presented its arguments in the case. Today, the Supreme Court will hear arguments from the petitioner before delivering its decision. As all parties did not finish their arguments yesterday, the case was adjourned and is set to conclude with a decision after today's hearing, according to Supreme Court spokesperson Achyut Kuinkel.

Previously, due to the absence of both parties, the Supreme Court had issued an order to reschedule the hearing. After both the petitioner and the government’s legal representatives were present, the Supreme Court began the hearing on Thursday.

The petition for the national ID, which had been pending for nearly a month, was finally heard. Following an interim order in the petition filed by lawyers Ram Bahadur Raut and Bimal Pokharel, the government registered the petition on November 5. The government claimed that the national identity system, along with the unified data of citizens, faced issues unless the interim order was revoked.

The Supreme Court will issue its decision on whether to approve the government’s petition. If the petition is accepted, the earlier interim order will be revoked, making the national identity card mandatory. If the petition is rejected, the interim order will remain in effect, allowing social security benefits and other actions based on citizenship and identity documents.