The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the CPN (Maoist Centre)’s decision to take action against Gandaki provincial assembly member Phanindra Devkota.

A single bench of Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut issued an order allowing Devkota to continue working as a lawmaker.

“Official documents show that Devkota is associated with the Nepal Samajbadi Party. It does not appear that the petitioner quit the said party, nor does it seem that the petitioner was expelled by the party. The action by the CPN (Maoist Centre), the party with which Devkota is not associated with, is not justified as per the constitutional and legal provisions,” the court said in its order.

“An interim order has been issued to the defendants not to implement the action until a final verdict since it appears that irreparable damage will be caused to the petitioner by not being able to perform the role in the capacity of a people’s representative.”

Devkota, a minister in Gandaki Province government, was relieved of his position as a member of the provincial assembly on June 14. Speaker Krishna Prasad Dhital removed him as a lawmaker based on the recommendation of the CPN (Maoist Centre), which decided to take action claiming that he had defied the party whip.

Devkota, a leader of the Nepal Samajbadi Party who fought the 2022 election under the Maoist Centre’s symbol, had voted in favour of Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey of the Nepali Congress. Devkota’s vote was a must for Pandey to win the Assembly’s trust.

The Maoist Centre parliamentary party had issued a whip for its members to vote against Pandey. Devkota, however, defied the whip, arguing that the Maoist Centre’s instruction did not apply to him because he comes from a different party.

In November 2022 general elections, the Baburam Bhattarai-led Nepal Samajbadi Party had forged an electoral alliance and used the Maoist Centre’s election symbol.