Two separate writ petitions have been registered at the Supreme Court demanding that the nomination of ruling Nepal Communist Party’s vice chair Bamdev Gautam as a member of the National Assembly be annulled.

Despite vehement criticism from different sections of society, President Bidhya Devi Bhandari nominated Gautam to the upper house of federal parliament on September 17 based on a Cabinet recommendation.

[Read: Can Gautam become a minister? Depends which Article gets invoked.]

Senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi and advocate Badriraj Bhatta had registered separate writ petitions at the Supreme Court on Monday.

Claiming that Gautam’s appointment would seriously violate the spirit of the constitution and obstruct the country’s constitutional process, Tripathi petitioned the court for an interim order not to implement the decision before the Supreme Court’s decision on the issue.

While appealing for ensuring a standard for the people who are nominated to the upper house, Tripathi also demanded an interim order not to allow Gautam to be appointed a minister.

Article 78 (4) of the Constitution of Nepal bars Gautam from going to the Cabinet for having lost the 2017 parliamentary elections but Article 76 (9) may allow him to become a minister once he is sworn into the National Assembly.

But opinions are divided among legal experts.

“I have also demanded the Supreme Court direct the government to set the criteria for the people who are appointed by the President in the three upper house seats,” said Tripathi.

President can nominate three members in the 59-member National Assembly including a woman as per the recommendation of the council of ministers.

Another advocate Bhatta has also demanded that Gautam’s appointment be annulled because the quotas allocated for nomination are not meant for those who are defeated in elections or those who are active in politics.

The court has scheduled both the writs to be heard on Wednesday.