Justice Hari Krishna Karki has decided to recuse himself from the Constitutional Bench, which is hearing as many as 13 writs against the KP Sharma Oli administration’s House dissolution move.

The Constitutional Bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana has Karki, Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha, Anil Kumar Sinha and Tej Bahadur KC.

“Justice Karki has decided not to be part of the Constitutional Bench that is hearing the writs against dissolution of the House of Representatives,” Kishor Poudel, communication expert at the Supreme Court, told the Post. “The chief justice will replace him with another justice.”

Chief Justice Rana had chosen the members for the bench from the roster of 14 justices. His decision, however, had run into controversy because he had left out some senior justices.

Questions were asked about Karki also because he in the past had served as the attorney general when Oli was prime minister in his first stint.

Karki was appointed attorney general in October 2015 after Oli was elected prime minister for the first time following the promulgation of the constitution.

Karki was appointed a Supreme Court justice during Oli's tenure as prime minister in 2016.

Karki assumed office as Supreme Court justice on August 1, 2016.

Lawyers including senior advocate Shambhu Thapa had said that since Oli is party to the case and Karki once had worked as his counsel in the capacity of the attorney general, the justice should not be part of the Constitutional Bench.

After Karki’s decision to recuse himself, the hearing on the case was adjourned on Wednesday.

Next hearing has been slated for January 13.