The ongoing dispute regarding the district headquarters of Rukum (East) has been sent to the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court.

A full bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR and Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut on Sunday decided to conduct the next hearing of the case from the constitutional bench. Though the case has been sent to the constitutional bench, the date of the next hearing has not been scheduled yet.

Rukum (East) was identified as a district on October 5, 2017. The new district fell into a dispute over naming the district headquarters within six months of its formation. On January 25, 2018, a Cabinet decision had named Golkhada as the permanent headquarters of Rukum (East), prompting protests in Rukumkot—the temporary headquarters of the district. However, the Supreme Court on February 1, 2018 had issued an interim order not to implement the Cabinet decision.

Ganesh Hamal, an advocate from Rukumkot, said the next hearing will be conducted from the constitutional bench itself because the case contradicts with some of the provisions of the constitution. “The nature of the case contradicts with some constitutional provisions in that the District Coordination Committee decided to make Rukumkot as the district headquarters whereas the federal government decided to name Golkhada as the permanent headquarters of Rukum (East),” said Hamal.

Meanwhile, the District Administration Office has imposed a prohibitory order in Rukumkot for the last one week after the protests led by locals to secure the district headquarters’ status turned violent. Normal life in Rukumkot has been affected due to the prolonged prohibitory order. Residents of Rukumkot and Golkhada have been staging protest rallies demanding that their town be named the permanent district headquarters. Chief District Officer Mitralal Sharma said that the prohibitory order will be lifted only after the situation in Rukumkot goes back to normal.