The Supreme Court has issued an interlocutory interim order to the government, asking it not to implement its decision of scrapping the Land-related Problem Resolution Commission.

“Given the sensitivity and seriousness of the issue it is necessary to discuss the interim order in the presence of both the parties, [so] inform the parties to be present on August 17 for a discussion,” states the Supreme Court’s order. “An interlocutory interim order has been issued not to change anything of the dissolved Land-related Problem Resolution Commission including the records of its activities, physical resources and managerial issues until August 17.”

The order comes after a preliminary hearing on the petitions demanding that the government’s decision to scrap the commission be annulled.

Four petitions were filed at the Supreme Court against the government decision to scrap the commission.

“With this court’s decision the commission is revived for at least till August 17 before the Supreme Court takes concrete decision on whether to issue interim order or not,” said advocate Rojan Khadka, one of the four writ petitioners.

A single bench of Justice Ishwar Khatiwada issued the order.

Advocates Prabesh KC and Ek Bahadur Lwagun had filed the petitions separately on Friday, while commission chair Devi Prasad Gyawali and advocate Rojan Khadka had moved the court on Sunday.

“I have stopped going to the office ever since the government decided to scrap the commission,” Gyawali told the Post. “Today the Supreme Court has decided to revive it.”

On August 3, the Sher Bahadur Deuba government scrapped the commission.

The commission was formed on April 14 last year by the KP Sharma Oli government.

In his petition, Gyawali demanded that the Supreme Court allow the commission to continue its work because the decision to scrap it was ill-intentioned and there was no significant reason to scrap it.

All the petitioners have argued that the decision to scrap the commission was against Articles 37 and 40 of the constitution.

Article 37(1) states that every citizen shall have the right to an appropriate housing while 37(2) says no citizen shall be evicted from the residence owned by him or her nor shall his or her residence be infringed except in accordance with law.

Clause 5 of the Article 40 that talks about rights of Dalits states that the state shall provide land to the landless Dalit for one time in accordance with law and its Clause 6 says the State shall, in accordance with law, arrange settlement for the Dalit having no housing.

Attorney General Khamma Bahadur Khati, however, said that the commission was scrapped because it was formed without any proper legal basis.