The Supreme Court on Thursday said the vote of confidence secured by Uddhav Thapa, chief minister of Koshi Province, on Monday was unconstitutional.

The top court directed the Nepali Congress-led provincial government to refrain from taking any decision with long-term consequences.

The ruling applies until the court issues its final verdict in the writ petition challenging the vote of confidence secured by Chief Minister Thapa in the provincial assembly earlier this week.

A single bench of Justice Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada issued the order responding to the petition filed by UML provincial assembly leader Hikmat Karki.

“An interim order has been issued in the name of the defendants not to take any decision having a long-term impact and of policy nature until the hearing of the petition is concluded as the vote of confidence that Chief Minister Thapa received is not in accordance with the constitution,” reads the order.

The vote of confidence secured by Thapa was challenged in the court as lawmakers chairing the meeting also participated in the voting process.

The bench stated that the presiding member does not have the right to vote on any proposal presented to the provincial assembly for decision unless in the event of a tie as per Article 186 of the Constitution.

The announcement that Thapa had secured the confidence of the assembly by counting the votes given by the presiding member goes against the parliamentary practice, constitutional ethics, and even the principles propounded by the court, reads the order.

The bench has scheduled its final hearing from Friday attaching priority to the matter that needs to be decided urgently.

Koshi Chief Minister Thapa secured a vote of confidence in the provincial assembly on Monday. Of the 77 lawmakers present, 47 including those who chaired the meeting voted in favour of the motion tabled by the chief minister while 30 voted against it. Sixteen lawmakers representing the CPN-UML and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party remained absent.

Deputy Speaker Srijana Danuwar had called the meeting and scheduled the floor test. But she left for Kathmandu early on Monday “for medical treatment”. Mansuri of the Nepali Congress then chaired the provincial assembly as part of the four-member praesidium.

After Mansuri cast his vote in the floor test, the assembly turned tense as lawmakers from the opposition parties, the UML and the RPP, staged a protest in front of the rostrum and shouted slogans against the chair’s vote.

Congress provincial assembly party leader Thapa was appointed the chief minister on August 1 after the resignation of Speaker Baburam Gautam. Gautam resigned as Speaker earlier in the day, ensuring that the candidate from the alliance of parties including the Congress and the Maoist Centre will muster a majority to stake their claim to government formation.

Earlier in July, the Supreme Court had issued a similar order invalidating the Speaker’s involvement in government formation.

The court on July 27 had ordered the Koshi Province head and the Speaker of the provincial assembly, among other authorities, to form a new government within seven days, terming the Thapa-led Cabinet unconstitutional.

A full bench of the court comprising Justices Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Ananda Mohan Bhattarai and Til Prasad Shrestha had issued the order, terming Speaker Gautam’s support to form the Thapa-led government unconstitutional.