The Nepal Bar Association has warned of a constitutional crisis and legal difficulties after the Parliamentary Hearing Committee (PHC) rejected the nomination of Acting Chief Justice Deepak Raj Joshee for the post of chief justice. The umbrella organisation of legal practitioners said that the PHC’s decision directly interferes with the independent judiciary.

The NBA claimed that the PHC decision not only challenges the constitution, laws and the Constitutional Council’s basis for Joshee’s recommendation but also the separation of power between the three state organs—judiciary, legislature and the executive.

Issuing a statement after the PHC’s decision on Friday, the NBA said that “the decision taken at the behest of a political party with an aim to direct and control the independent, able and responsible judiciary has flouted the rule of law and procedure”.

“This PHC decision directly interferes with independent judiciary,” read the statement signed by Advocate Khamba Bahadur Khati, the NBA general secretary. The NBA observed that both the legislature and the executive were trying to control “the only centre of hope of all citizens”—the judiciary—in a systematic manner. (PR)

ALSO READ: In a first, hearing committee rejects chief justice nominee