After sitting on a writ petition for five and a half years and deferring a decision 35 times, the Supreme Court has scrapped the petition that challenged the impeachment motion against then chief justice Sushila Karki.

The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court last Wednesday scrapped the petition filed by advocate Sunil Ranjan Singh in May, 2017, challenging the move of the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) to register an impeachment motion against Karki. Lawmakers of the Congress and the Maoist Centre had registered an impeachment motion against the former chief justice at the Parliament Secretariat on April 30 the same year, objecting to one of her rulings.

After a preliminary hearing, a single bench of Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana had stayed the impeachment motion, saying “the move to impeach the chief justice is against the spirit of the Constitution of Nepal”.

“It appears that the impeachment motion was brought against the apex court’s order on the appointment of the Nepal Police chief, which is sub judice in this court, but the move, prima facie, is against the spirit of the constitution,” Rana's bench said at the time. The bench also directed the parliament secretariat to put the impeachment motion on hold until a final decision on the petition. Based on Rana’s ruling, Karki returned to the court and led the judiciary until her retirement.

Five and a half years later, the court scrapped the petition. Although the ground for scrapping the petition is unclear, officials say that since the issue has already been settled, the court found no need for a ruling.

“The details, however, will be out soon with the full text of the decision,” Bimal Poudel, spokesperson for the Supreme Court, told the Post. He said it would take at least a couple of months for the full text.

Petitioner Singh argued that the House should not impeach justices just because some parliamentarians are dissatisfied with court verdicts. Of the nine charges they had leveled against Karki, one was related to a ruling in which the top court had quashed the government’s decision of appointing Jay Bahadur Chand as the chief of Nepal Police.

Karki’s bench on March 21, 2017 had scrapped the then Sher Bahadur Deuba government’s decision to appoint Chand as the inspector general of police on February 21 that year although he was behind his colleagues in performance ratings.

Singh had also demanded that the Constitutional Bench define the criteria for impeachment. However, the court did not entertain his demand. “I am surprised that the petition has been scrapped after being sub judice for years,” Singh told the Post.

“I am of the view that Parliament cannot impeach justices just because lawmakers are not satisfied with their verdicts. By refusing to issue a writ as I petitioned, the court has kept the door open for impeachment against justices whenever the lawmakers are not satisfied with their rulings.”

Had the court issued a verdict on the matter, Singh added, it would have cleared the confusion over the impeachment motion against suspended chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana as well.

As many as 98 lawmakers of the ruling parties in February registered a motion against Rana, who remains suspended from that very day. The term of the House of Representatives expired without deciding on the matter. Whether the motion will continue in the upcoming House is debatable.

“I am pretty sure that the court decided to scrap my petition for possible connection with the impeachment motion against Rana,” Singh said.