After the Supreme Court rapped on the knuckles of the ruling coalition by issuing an interim order against an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Sushila Karki, top leaders of the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) hit back at the apex court, saying Friday’s ruling has “but confirmed that it is interfering in the executive’s jurisdiction”.

Prime Minister and Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba held a meeting soon after a single bench of SC Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana ruled the impeachment motion against Karki unconstitutional and ordered the Legislature-Parliament to put the issue on hold.

NC lawmaker Min Bahadur Bishwokarma, the proposer of the impeachment motion, said after the meeting that the two leaders “have concluded that the apex court not only interfered in the executive’s jurisdiction but also breached the constitutional rights of elected lawmakers by issuing an interim order against the move”. “The ruling lacks legal basis and has undermined parliamentary supremacy; the order was issued on the basis of emotion,” he said.

Asked about the next move of the ruling coalition, Bishwokarma said the two leaders will hold further discussions before taking a decision on the matter. “The order is part of a grand design aimed at derailing federalism,” he said.

Maoist Centre Spokesperson Pampha Bhusal also claimed that the SC’s interim order was part of conspiracy “to foil the scheduled polls, which would ultimately derail the constitution implementation process”.

“The ruling coalition would strongly work to uphold the supremacy of Parliament,” said Bhusal.

With the SC ruling, the NC and the Maoist Centre, which have accused Chief Justice Karki of interfering in the executive’s jurisdiction, are under pressure, as there have been calls from several quarters that they must withdraw the motion immediately on moral grounds.

However, Maoist Centre lawmaker Ram Narayan Bidari refused to agree.

He was of the view that the apex court “cannot breach the special rights of elected lawmakers, hence Parliament does not need to abide by the interim order”.

“The Legislature-Parliament can quash the order by sending a letter to the apex court,” he said.

Some political parties that were critical of the NC-Maoist move of filing the impeachment motion against Karki have welcomed the apex court ruling.

CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, who had vehemently objected to the ruling coalition’s move, said “partial justice has been delivered to Chief Justice Karki”.

Similarly, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Kamal Thapa tweeted: “The latest apex court ruling on the impeachment motion is a welcome move.” The RPP pulled out of the government on Monday, a day after 249 NC, Maoist lawmakers registered the motion.