After the hearing with Acting Chief Justice Deepak Raj Joshee for his appointment as the Chief Justice of the country last week, the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee postponed its meetings twice, and held the meetings twice. However, the decision on whether to endorse the controversial name has not been made yet. In this context, the Committee is scheduled to hold a meeting today and most members of the panel have claimed that the decision should not be delayed further. Therefore, most of Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Friday have given a significant priority to the controversy surrounding the top judicial official. On the other hand, a team formed by the government to investigate into alleged smuggling and disappearance of 33 kg gold via Tribhuvan International Airport some months ago has submitted its report to the government, and newspapers have featured stories about the issue on their front pages.
Few other political, sociocultural and economic issues have also been published on the front pages today.
Important
Joshee may face impeachment if Congress blocks rejection
Lawmakers of the ruling Nepal Communist Party have warned that their party may file an impeachment motion against Acting Chief Justice Deepak Raj Joshee if the main opposition party Nepali Congress tries to obstruct or defer the decision making process of Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee, report Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post in their lead stories.
The party as the first option to end the current stalemate wants to reject Joshee’s nomination for the top position and begin a fresh process to appoint the new Chef Justice as they suspected genuineness of Joshee’s academic certificates.
Meanwhile, Rajdhani and Naya Patrika have dug out the history of Joshee’s career to conclude that his appointment as the Supreme Court Justice four years ago was also equally controversial.
Dozens arrested in connection with attack on lawmaker
As ruling Nepal Communist Party lawmaker Niru Devi Pal reported that she was attacked by a man brandishing a pistol on Tuesday night in Naya Baneshwor, the Metropolitan Police Rage in Kathmandu launched a mission and arrested dozens of suspected people, according to newspaper reports.
The number of arrestees, however, is different from paper to paper. According to Gorkhapatra, total 82 persons were attested. Nagarik says total 75 persons arrested. Naya Patrika puts the figure at 90.
‘Mini Parliament’ comes into operation
With the announcement of formation of 10 committees in the House of Representatives and four committees in the National Assembly, the process of forming such committees, which also function as the ‘mini Parliament’ to ensure check and balance between the executive and the legislative, has been concluded, reports Gorkhapatra in a three-column story.
The report adds that the process was delayed as the main opposition Nepali Congress did not give the names of its lawmakers for different committees on time as it was bargaining with the ruling parties for leadership positions in the committee. However, the party later moderated its stance paving the way for the formation of such panels.
But still, the party’s lawmakers did not respond to the Speaker’s and the National Assembly Chair’s announcement of the committees, according to Rajdhani.
The opposition party is demanding that it be allowed to lead total four committees, but the ruling Nepal Communist Party is preparing to give the leadership of Public Accounts Committee only, according to Annapurna Post.
Ignored
National football team coach faces action for overstaying
Annapurna Post reports in a brief front page story that the Department of Immigration has imposed a one-year entry ban on Nepal national football team’s coach, Gyotoku Koji, after he was found to be overstaying here. The Japanese national has obtained a tourist visa in January which expired after five months. Nepal football governing body, ANFA, did not care about obtaining other type of visa, so he cannot come to Nepal till the end of 2018, according to the report.
Slow pace mars law formulation process
A four-column anchor story in Rajdhani reports that the formulation of various new laws to implement fundamental rights guaranteed by the 2015 constitution has significantly been slow, and it has been feared that the government may fail to meet the deadline of September 19, the date of completion of three months of constitution implementation.
The government needs to ensure endorsement and enactment of such laws, according to the report.
Interesting
‘Exciting’ population of dolphins in Kailali
Nepal Samacharpatra reports in a four-column anchor story that a recent count conducted in rivers of Kailali district of Province 7 has found that there are 47 dolphins in the district. This number is said to be quite exciting as the species is considered endangered in the context of Nepal, according to the report.
There are 35 adults and 12 kids. Of them, seven have been identified as males, there are many females, but few are yet to be confirmed of their sex, the report informs.
