Nepal’s Chief Justice forms Constitutional Bench for hearing of petitions against Oli’s move

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Amid protests over Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s move to dissolve the House of Representatives, Nepal’s Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana has picked the members for the Constitutional Bench for the hearing of 30 petitions against the action.</p>
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Following Oli’s move, President Bidya Devi Bhandari announced mid term general elections for November 12 and 19. Currently, the country is also in the grip of a severe Covid 19 pandemic wave.</p>
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The Constitutional Bench comprises Justices Deepak Kumar Karki, Anand Mohan Bhattarai, Tej Bahadur KC and Bam Kumar.</p>
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“Chief Justice Rana has formed the bench comprising seniormost justices,” the Kathmandu Post quoted Kishor Poudel, a communication expert at the Supreme Court, as saying.</p>
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The Constitutional Bench is a constitutionally envisioned bench which is led by the chief justice with the prerogative to select members from a roster of senior justices, the newspaper said.</p>
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In five months, this is the second time that the House was dissolved by Oli. On December 20 last year, Oli had suddenly dissolved the House, calling for snap polls for April 30 and May 10, throwing the country into political uncertainties, the Kathmandu Post in another report said. The Supreme Court had however overturned his decision on February 23, calling it unconstitutional.</p>
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Meanwhile, India has maintained that the developments are Nepal’s internal matter.</p>