SC to hear petition today on 52 appointments in constitutional bodies

Kathmandu, February 12 — A hearing is set to take place today on a petition demanding the annulment of appointments made through ordinances in constitutional bodies on December 15, 2020, and May 9, 2021, which involved 52 individuals.

The petition was filed seeking the invalidation of these appointments.

The case will be heard in the Constitutional Bench, led by Chief Justice Prakashman Singh Raut, with five justices. The issue, initially filed in December 16, 2020, has seen repeated scheduling of hearings without any progress until now.

The hearing will take place before Chief Justice Raut and Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Manoj Kumar Sharma, Kumar Chudal, and Nahakul Subedi.

The petition challenges the appointments of 52 officials and members made through amendments to the Constitutional Council Act by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli using an ordinance. The petitioners have requested that these appointments be annulled.

Advocates Om Prakash Aryal and senior advocate Dr. Dinesh Tripathi filed the petition, which previously led to a show-cause order issued on March 23, 2021, followed by a directive on 22 June, 2022 to notify all concerned parties.

Further proceedings were delayed due to missing deadlines by some officials, and hearings have been postponed multiple times since.