Kathmandu, September 21
A petition has been filed at the Supreme Court seeking to transfer the case concerning the Nepali Congress’s special general convention from the full bench to the Constitutional Bench.
A member of the Deuba faction has filed the petition, seeking to transfer the dispute currently under consideration by a three-member full bench to a five-member full bench led by the chief justice.
The petitioner has argued that the dispute over the leadership of the Nepali Congress involves a “serious question of constitutional interpretation” and has requested that the case be referred to the Constitutional Bench.
Supreme Court spokesperson Arjun Koirala confirmed that the petition had been filed but said no decision had been made on it. “The petition was filed, but no decision has been made on it yet,” he told Onlinekhabar. According to him, the petitioner later took back the copy of the petition.
However, another senior Supreme Court official said the petition had been attached to the main case file and submitted to the chief justice for an administrative decision.
“The case file was submitted to the chief justice’s chamber after the Deuba faction filed the petition,” a Supreme Court source said. “The file is in the chief justice’s chamber, and no further decision has been made.”
Chief Justice Dr Manoj Sharma is currently in Guangzhou, China, on a four-day visit.
The Supreme Court had previously determined the judges who would hear the case through the lottery system during the review process.
If it is decided that the case should be heard by a full bench, the Constitutional Bench led by the chief justice will hear it. The other four judges on the bench will be selected by the chief justice rather than through the lottery system.
Agaraj Pokharel, senior advocate and coordinator of the election committee formed by the Deuba faction, said no such petition had been officially filed. “If someone filed a petition individually, we are not aware of it,” he said.
Article 137(3) of the Constitution provides that if a case pending before the Supreme Court involves a serious question of constitutional interpretation, the chief justice may refer it to the Constitutional Bench. The petition has sought to use this provision to transfer the Nepali Congress dispute to the Constitutional Bench.
Dispute following special general convention
On January 16, the Election Commission decided to recognise the Nepali Congress special general convention and update its records with the newly elected office-bearers. Following the decision, Sher Bahadur Deuba and his working committee automatically lost recognition.
Deuba, the then party president, and Purna Bahadur Khadka, the acting president, subsequently filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission’s decision. As the election date was approaching, the case reached final hearing without even a discussion on an interim order. On April 17, the Supreme Court rejected the demands of leaders from the Deuba faction and upheld the Election Commission’s decision.
After the full text of the verdict was made public, Deuba and Khadka filed petitions seeking a review of the verdict. They claimed that the decision had been made contrary to judicial principles and precedents.
On August 6, a bench comprising Chief Justice Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma and Justices Nityananda Pandey and Shrikant Paudel issued an order granting permission for a review of the verdict.
The order stated that the Election Commission’s decision should be subject to judicial review again on the grounds that the Deuba faction had not been given an opportunity for a hearing before the decision on the special general convention was updated.
Following the Nepali Congress special general convention, the Gagan Thapa faction had applied to the Election Commission to update the details of the new leadership.
On February 12, the Election Commission recognised the decision of the special general convention and officially recognised the new working committee led by Gagan Thapa. On April 17, a joint bench of the Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission’s decision.
The three-member bench led by Chief Justice Sharma on Thursday granted permission to review the Supreme Court’s earlier verdict in light of two precedents. Following the order, the revived Nepali Congress dispute is pending before a three-member full bench. A hearing date has not yet been scheduled.
