The Supreme Court on Friday annulled the government’s decision to give a public holiday on the ‘People’s War Day’.

A divisional bench of Justices Anand Mohan Bhattarai and Mahesh Sharma Paudel quashed the government’s decision to give a public holiday on the day while responding to a writ petition by individuals including advocate Gyanendra Raj Aran.

The CPN (Maoist Centre) that launched the armed insurgency on February 13, 1996 has been marking the People’s War Day on the first day of the Nepali month of Falgun every year. The decade-long insurgency concluded with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on November 21, 2006.

In February, the government announced to mark the day as a public holiday.

The petition was filed in the apex court challenging the government decision.

Hearing on the petition, the bench maintained that it wasn’t appropriate to take such a decision that would hurt the feelings of plaintiffs, without a well-thought-out decision from the Parliament. The order said the government decision was tantamount to affecting the future activities of transitional justice bodies and that it was inappropriate also because some of the tasks of the peace process are yet to be completed.