Activist and orthopaedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC and his team plan to file a Public Interest Litigation demanding Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli’s academic and birth certificates to be made public. 

Their decision follows the Chief Justice’s refusal to make his academic certificates public. The team plans to file a criminal complaint at Nepal Police demanding investigation on the documents of CJ Parajuli. On Friday, officials at the CJ’s secretariat had denied showing the dossiers citing “order from Parajuli not to show his academic certificates”.

Advocate Om Prakash Aryal, who filed the complaint along with Dr KC, said they would soon move the court with the PIL because it is the right of people to know academic details of CJ Parajuli.

“If CJ Parajuli’s appointment is tainted, he should be stripped of all the government positions and benefits. We will file a complaint in police soon to investigate his documents,” said Aryal. 

 Article 133 of the Constitution of Nepal allows filing PIL in case of “any dispute of public interest or concern. The article states that “the Supreme Court shall, for the enforcement of the fundamental rights conferred by this Constitution or of any other legal right for which no other remedy has been provided or for which the remedy even though provided appears to be inadequate or ineffective or for the settlement of any constitutional or legal question involved in any dispute of public interest or concern, have the extraordinary power to issue necessary and appropriate orders, provide appropriate remedies, enforce such right or settle such dispute.”

Dr KC said their fight is against the corrupt justices of Supreme Court. “Until and unless CJ Parajuli makes his citizenship and education certificate public and clarifies the controversy surrounding its dates, we will not stop our fight,” said Dr KC. “I will start my hunger strike from March 13 demanding impeachment against CJ Parajuli and investigation over his deeds.”

Arguing there were serious doubts over his academic qualifications, especially the School Leaving Certificate, Dr KC, Advocate Aryal and Pritam Subedi had filed applications twice at CJ Parajuli’s Secretariat demanding the documents concerning his personal and academic details.

Dr KC is protesting against CJ Parajuli since January when the former announced an indefinite fast following the court ruling saying that the decision to reinstate Dr Shashi Sharma was a “systematic effort to affiliate new (medical) colleges and to imperil the country’s medical education”.