Kathmandu, March 12
A Supreme Court Justice in Nepal has boycotted the full bench saying that he will not sit alongside the Chief Justice who is working past retirement.
Justice Choldendra Sumsher Rana says Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli ought to have retired in July last year but still continues to work. This comes a few hours after Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli convened a full bench to look into a contempt of court against Kantipur Publications. Parajuli was to hear the case along with justices Om Prakash Mishra, Deepak Kumar Karki, Kedar Prasad Chalise, Sarada Prasad Ghimire, Tej Bhadar KC and Justice Rana.
Following Rana’s refusal to sit alongside Parajuli, the hearing in the case scheduled for today has been postponed. According to sources, when proceedings were about to begin in the hearing, Rana stood up and read out a statement. In the statement, he said that Parajuli ought to have retired in July last year.
“I had a look at the Chief Justice Parajuli’s certificates just yesterday and saw that he ought to have retired in July,” Rana said before leaving the court.
“This is a unique incident in Nepal’s judicial history,” Advocate Tikaram Bhattarai told Onlinekhabar. “Given what has happened, Parajuli can no long er continue as Chief Justice,” he added.
Parajuli has been dragged into controversy after reports surfaced claiming that he forged his education certificates to lower his age. His decisions in cases related to medical colleges have also been controversial.
