Supreme Court Postpones Hearing on Resham Lal Chaudhary's Candidacy Challenge

The hearing on the writ petition filed against the disqualification of Resham Lal Chaudhary, patron of the Nagarik Unmukti Party Nepal, was scheduled as the first case but did not proceed.

Chaudhary's writ was scheduled for hearing in the joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Nahakul Subedi and Abdul Aziz Muslim.

The case was placed on the non-hearing list because Justice Nahakul Subedi was part of a joint bench that had previously heard the murder case related to Chaudhary.

The joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Anand Mohan Bhattarai and Nahakul Subedi had previously described the Tikapur incident as extremely cruel, inhumane, and tragic. They further stated that any government decision to pardon convicts in such incidents is a blatant violation of the constitution and established principles of justice, leading to a serious deviation in criminal justice.

'To say that a matter of violation of criminal law cannot be prosecuted according to criminal law under the guise of political consensus, political interest, or political crime, or to withdraw such cases under a strategy of political bargaining, or to grant pardon in a manner that violates and mocks established values and legal provisions,' stated the verdict delivered by the joint bench of Anand Mohan Bhattarai and Nahakul Subedi, 'it appears to be in direct contravention of the country's constitution, laws, and established principles of justice.'

In the writ challenging the decision to disqualify Chaudhary's candidacy, a single bench of Justice Balkrishna Dhakal had previously ordered the Election Commission to submit a written response on January 27 (Magh 11) regarding Chaudhary's petition. The bench had also summoned both parties to appear for discussions regarding an interim order.

On January 29 (Magh 15), a joint bench of Justices Balkrishna Dhakal and Nripa Dhwaj Niraula ordered the submission of the case file related to the previous murder case verdict as per the prior order. The hearing for the interim order was scheduled for today after the required actions according to the previous order were completed and the case file was received.

His candidacy, registered for the House of Representatives election in Kailali Constituency No. 1 scheduled for February 3 (Falgun 21), had been canceled by the Election Commission.