In an indication of a looming crisis, the Supreme Court on Sunday saw only three benches convene after five temporary justices got their extended tenure over on Saturday.

Of the three benches, Justice  Ram Kumar Shah was part of two benches and effectively one of those could not convene. Currently, there are only five justices including Chief Justice Damodar Sharma in office. But two of the five justices are out of station. Justice Kalyan Shrestha is participating in Saarc law conference and Justice Sushila Karki is on an official trip to China. The apex court is supposed to have 15 permanent justices and temporary ones on the basis of necessity.

In the absence of the recommendation from Judicial Council (JC), the constitutional body mandated to recommend names of justices, the vacancies could not be filled. The five justices—Prakash Wosti, Tarka Raj Bhatta, Bharat Bahadur Karki, Gyanendra Karki and Baidya Nath Upadhyay—were re-appointed to apex court last year for a one-year term. They were appointed following a presidential decree to remove constitutional difficulties that did away with the provision of parliamentary hearing in the absence of House. Upadhyay has returned to his posting as the chief judge of Appellate Court, Hetauda.

Justice Bhatta has filed an application with the JC seeking to change his date of birth  which, if accepted, could see him come back to the apex court. In the application registered with the JC on March 12, Justice Bhatta maintains that his DOB, according to his academic certificates, is August 22, 1949, akin to that in the sheet roll prepared when he joined Judicial Service. While, as per the personal details filed by Bhatta in the JC, his DoB is April 13, 1949. Bhatta retired as the appellate court chief judge on April 12, 2012 on the basis of the date filed in his personal details. Bhatta wants his age to be counted from August.

These justices had been brought on temporary basis even earlier. But observers question the intention of the authorities concerned in the regard. “The absence of Justices has been prevailing for two years. But the Judicial Council could not recommend names even when everything was in order,” said Sunil Pokharel, general secretary of Nepal Bar Association.

The umbrella organisation of lawyers has urged the JC to make bulk appointment of justices. So far, there are over 17,000 backlog cases and the absence of justices is seen as a reason.

Chief Justice Sharma promises appointments in a week

Kathmandu: Newly appointed Chief Justice Damodar Prasad Sharma has vowed to make appointments to the Supreme Court within one week. Admitting that the absence of enough number of justices has added to cases backlog, CJ Sharma made the pledge. Speaking to media after assuming office on Sunday, Sharma cited the case of district and appellate courts that the presence of enough judges eases backlog. The Judicial Council, which is chaired by CJ, made bulk appointments in district and appellate courts earlier. (PR)