The Supreme Court on Sunday completed its hearings on the petition challenging the eligibility of Lokman Singh Karki, the suspended Chief of Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).

The court bench was interrupted for a tea and snack break after the attorneys, from both the plaintiff’s and defendant’s side put forth their arguments.

Lawyers Shambhu Thapa, Om Prakash Aryal, Tikaram Bhattarai, and Ramesh Badawal advocated on behalf of petitioner Om Prakash Aryal.

On the other hand, advocates Badri Bahadur Karki, Sushil Panta, and Mahadev Yadav defended the case for Karki. The hearing on the case began on December 22.

Advocate Aryal had filed a writ at the SC, claiming that Karki was not eligible to head the anti-graft body.

In his petition challenging Karki’s appointment, Aryal has claimed: “the entire appointment process is unlawful as Karki’s tenure in government service falls short of what has been provisioned in the constitution and he does not hold high moral character to lead the anti-graft body as enshrined in the constitution”.

Karki has automatically been suspended from the post of CIAA chief after an impeachment motion was registered against him at the Legislature-Parliament on October 19, 2016.