Supreme Court orders new hierarchy for Chief Justice and Judges

Kathmandu, January 5 — The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court has ordered the determination of a new hierarchy for the Chief Justice and judges. Along with this, the Supreme Court issued a three-point directive order to the government regarding the hierarchy.

The Constitutional Bench stated that the Chief Justice and Supreme Court judges should be included in the seniority list alongside federal ministers, emphasizing the need to consider constitutional status when determining the order of precedence.

The ruling also mandates that the Chief Judge and judges of the High Court must be given a defined seniority status, as their positions are constitutional.

The order further outlines that the Chief Judge should be ranked at the top at the Provincial Judicial Service Commission , followed by the Provincial Law Minister as a member of the Commission, reflecting their constitutional role.

The bench ruled that district judges, who are appointed from the civil service, must also be included in the hierarchy, and their responsibility to administer oaths at the local level must be taken into account when determining their status.

Furthermore, the ruling specifies that former Chief Justices should be ranked below former Prime Ministers, and former judges below former ministers.

The ruling came after a petition filed by Nanu Babu Khatri, which led to a decision on June 26. The full text of the decision was made public on Sunday, and now the new hierarchy must be established based on the ruling.

The bench, which included former Chief Justice Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha and judges Sapana Pradhan Malla, Prakash Kumar Dhungana, Kumar Regmi, and Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma, also emphasized that the principle of separation of powers must be taken into account when setting the new seniority list.