President Bound to Issue Ordinance After Resubmission, Says Lawyer

Kathmandu. Advocate Santosh Kumar Mahato has stated that President Ram Chandra Paudel can no longer stop the Constitutional Council (Functions, Duties, Rights and Procedures) (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2083, which the government has recommended again.

The Council of Ministers, in its meeting on Monday, decided to send the ordinance back for reissuance, which President Ram Chandra Paudel had returned on Sunday asking for reconsideration.

However, Mahato argued that once the government sends back an ordinance with the same content, the President will be compelled to issue it.

Mahato stated that although President Paudel had asked the government to reconsider the issues raised regarding the ordinance once, there is no room for the President to hold back the ordinance when the same subject is sent again.

“Although the President asked for reconsideration once, he no longer has the constitutional right to stop it,” Mahato said. “Based on the principle of necessity, the President cannot say he will stop it now; the constitution does not give him the right to withhold the ordinance.”

Advocate Mahato argued that the President should not engage in politics over an ordinance that must be mandatorily sent to the parliament.

The President had expressed disagreement with the ordinance, which allows decisions to be made with just three out of the six council members, and had requested the proposal be reconsidered and sent back on Sunday.

The ordinance included proposals to amend the provisions related to quorum and decision-making in Section 6 of the Act and the provisions related to parliamentary hearings in Section 7. According to the proposed arrangement, a meeting could be held if four members were present, and decisions could be made by the majority of the present members, i.e., three people.

Previously, the ordinance was recommended for approval to the President by the then KP Sharma Oli-led government in Ashadh 2082 and again in Mangsir of the same year. At that time too, the President had returned the ordinance.