Kathmandu, April 17: Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Surendra Raj Pandey lodged a supplementary writ petition at the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday accusing Gandaki Province chief minister (CM) Khagaraj Adhikari of contempt of court.According to former chief attorney of the province, Chiranjivi Sharma Paudel, in a situation where the SC itself has directed the government not to take long-term actions, it is contempt of court to use executive powers to make appointments.
The Supreme Court (SC) issued an interim order on April 11, asking the chief minister of Gandaki Province not to take any decision having a long-term impact.A single bench of Justice Binod Sharma issued the order to this effect until the final decision on the complaint.Khagaraj Adhikari was appointed the chief minister based on the claim he presented by counting the vote of the Speaker as well. The Speaker can only give a decisive vote on condition of Article 186 of the Nepal Constitution.
The SC has also fixed the date for a hearing on April 22 to resolve the dispute at the earliest. The outgoing CM Pandey, on April 10, filed a writ petition noting that presenting the claim of majority counting the Speaker’s vote as well was unconstitutional.The SC has also instructed the Office of the Chief Minister to present the complete file regarding the appointment of the Chief Minister on April 19.
Even though the SC has ordered not to take any decisions of long-term impact, the chief minister has already appointed the chief attorney of the province and the vice chairman of the provincial planning commission. He appointed Lamjung UML leader Krishna Adhikari as the chief attorney and Shri Kanta Khatiwada from Tanahun as the vice chairman of Gandaki Province Policy and Planning Commission.
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