Suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana is preparing to make a comeback at the Supreme Court after receiving a letter deeming the impeachment motion against him ineffective.

Rana is preparing to return to the apex court to resume duties after a letter from Bharat Raj Gautam, general secretary at the federal parliament, was sent to the Office of the President, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Constitutional Council, Supreme Court, Judicial Council, informing that the motion against the chief justice is ineffective with the election of new House of Representatives on November 20. The term of the previous parliament effectively ended with the recently-held elections.

“The earlier letter from the (parliament’s) general secretary that had barred honourable Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana from performing his duties has become ineffective with the completion of the new House of Representatives elections on November 20,” the letter reads. “The impeachment motion has also been rendered ineffective as the process did not move ahead even after the Impeachment Motion Recommendation Committee submitted its report following an investigation after the motion was filed and initial discussions were held at the House of Representatives,” the letter further reads.

The letter from the federal parliament general secretary comes soon after the completion of the tenure of the House of Representatives members of the previous parliament.

As many as 98 lawmakers on February 13 had registered the motion against Rana, citing Article 101 (2) of the constitution. The registration of the impeachment motion automatically resulted in Rana’s suspension.

In the proposal registered at the Parliament Secretariat, the lawmakers had leveled 21 charges against the chief justice including that he completely failed to strengthen the independent and competent judiciary apart from failing to protect the country’s legal sector.

Rana, who was appointed chief justice on January 2, 2019, first became the centre of controversy in October last year after all Supreme Court justices launched a protest against him, accusing him of promoting corruption. Justices stopped hearing cases and sharing benches with him, and then on December 1 last year, the Supreme Court adopted a lottery system, stripping Rana of his authority to assign cases.

Deepak Kumar Karki, as the senior-most justice, had taken the charge of the Supreme Court as acting chief justice.