The committee reached such a decision after lawmakers from the CPN-UML and the UCPN (Maoist) demanded that JC members be called to clarify the recommendation. But lawmakers from the Nepali Congress opposed the move.

The five-member JC comprises Chief Justice Damodar Prasad Sharma as head, Law Minister Narahari Acharya, senior Justice Shah, and Nepal Bar Association nominee Upendra Kesari Neupane and Prime Minister’s nominee Khem Narayan Dhungana.

Following a demand from a majority of the 73-member committee, the PHSC also decided to invite complainants to defend their allegations. Twenty-two complaints have been lodged against eight nominees. The next meeting is scheduled for Sunday. Speaking at the meeting, Maoist Chief Whip Giriraj Mani Pokharel maintained that the JC should take ownership of its decision. Insisting on calling the JC members to the PHSC committee, another Maoist lawmaker Agni Sapkota charged the constitutional body for undermining the committee. “We had sought details about the nominees. But nothing concrete has been produced,” said Sapkota.

UML lawmaker Rabindra Adhikari also called for inviting the JC members to the hearing committee in order to explain their position. But he said the PHSC needed to formulate a basis to conduct the hearing along with rejecting them.

NC lawmaker Balkrishna Khand argued that there was no need to rethink on the nominees as they are part of judicial service. Another NC lawmaker Mahendra Yadav questioned Justice Shah’s intention on writing a note of dissent. “How can we not say that Shah wanted to influence the two nominees?” remarked Yadav. Justice Shah wrote the note of dissent on JC’s April 23 decision, stating that two of the nominees Deepak Raj Joshi and Govinda Upadhya are not competent to be judges.

The PHSC has obtained a copy of the JC decision which includes Shah’s note of dissent. The JC recommendation courted controversy following nomination of judges like Cholendra Shumsher Rana. The apex court in 2012 had sought judicial action against Rana for giving a clean chit from the Special Court to then-NC leader Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta on corruption charges in 2007.