A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court demanding that the term of Parliament should end after the government declared the polling date.

On August 4, the government announced that federal and provincial polls will be held on November 20. However, there is still confusion as to when the term of Parliament will end as there are differing interpretations of the constitutional provisions by different experts.

Political parties have been saying that the term of the House will end once the candidates file their nominations.

But five individuals including advocate Maniram Upadhyay filed a petition at the Supreme Court on Thursday demanding proper interpretation on when the term of Parliament ends and declare the government as a caretaker one.

“Actually, there is no clarity on when the term of the House of Representatives and the provincial assemblies ends. Therefore we have sought the Supreme Court’s interpretation,” Upadhyay told the Post.

“We have also demanded that the term of the House and provincial assemblies should end once the government declared the polling date.”

Upadhyay, one of the writ petitioners, said the existence of the House has created confusion over whether the government is caretaker or not. “Once the Supreme Court gives its decision, that would also set a precedent for the upcoming polls,” Upadhyay said.

The petitioners have made the federal government, House of Representatives, Speaker, and all seven provincial governments the defendants.

Earlier on August 10, their petition was rejected by acting chief registrar Narayan Panthi but later a single bench of justice Sushmalata Mathema quashed Panthi’s decision to reject the writ petition saying that the issue raised by the petitioners was to be resolved by the court.

Mathema’s bench had ordered the Supreme Court to register the writ saying that the court needed to take a decision on the terms of the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies by interpreting the constitution and laws.

According to Upadhyay, the top court is scheduled to hear the petition on Sunday.