Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said he would hold talks with his coalition partners to find a solution to the ongoing standoff in the judiciary.

The prime minister said so during a meeting with the representatives of the Nepal Bar Association, the umbrella organisation of lawyers across the country, which has been demanding Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana’s resignation.

“We briefed the prime minister about the recent developments,” said Raman Shrestha, a senior advocate and former general secretary of the Nepal Bar.

It has been over a month since the crisis began in the judiciary. Justices who first launched their campaign against Rana, however, decided to return to the benches after an agreement that the cause list would be prepared through a raffle system.

The lottery system will come into effect from December 1, stripping chief justice of his authority to assign cases.

Lawyers, however, have made Rana’s resignation their bottom line.

According to Shrestha, the Nepal Bar delegation also handed over 17 allegations against Rana to Prime Minister Deuba, lawyers say make enough ground to impeach the chief justice.

Senior advocates and former office bearers of the Nepal Bar–Badri Bahadur Karki, Harihar Dahal, Shambhu Thapa and Raman Shrestha had accompanied office bearers of the Nepal Bar and Supreme Court Bar Association during Friday’s meeting with the prime minister at Baluwatar.

“After discussions, the prime minister has agreed to help find a solution to break the current deadlock in the judiciary after holding talks with the coalition partners,” said Shrestha. “He, however, has not given any timeframe for the way out.”