Kathmandu, May 22
The Nepal government has told the United Nations that the impeachment motion filed against Chief Justice Sushila Karki was constitutional.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently sent a letter to the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva to defend the move after the OHCHR’s Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, wrote a letter to Nepal condemning the ruling parties’ decision to impeach Karki, according to media reports.
Questioning the rationale behind impeachment motion, delay in transitional justice system, parties’ attempts to bring judiciary under their purview, García-Sayán had reportedly warned of taking the issue up to the UN Security Council if Nepal did not take necessary steps to withdraw the impeachment.
But, Nepal, in its answer, explained that the impeachment was under the jurisdiction of the legislative and it should not have been questioned, adding CJ Karki already got reinstated by the Supreme Court order.
Earlier, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein had also condemned the impeachment motion claiming it suggested “a concerted attempt by the government to undermine the independence of the judiciary.”
“I urge the Nepal authorities to respect the independence of the judiciary, to withdraw what appears to be a politically motivated impeachment motion,’ he had said.
