The Judicial Council has recommended Nripa Dhwoj Niroula and Nityananda Pandey for their appointment as Supreme Court justices.

The decision was made during the council’s meeting on Friday.

Niroula and Pandey are currently chief judges at the Patan High Court and the Tulsipur High Court respectively.

They need to be endorsed from a parliamentary hearing committee before being appointed as per the constitutional provision.

The meeting also assigned senior Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut to oversee the implementation of the recommendations made by a task force formed to address issues related to the Judicial Council (First Amendment) Regulations, 2023.

Additionally, the council has transferred 14 high court judges to different locations.

The recommendation has been made amid the Nepal Bar Association protest against the planned recommendation of judges.

The lawyers’ umbrella body continued its protest on Friday against the recommendation of judges, claiming it violates constitutional provisions. Despite adverse weather conditions, lawyers affiliated with the Nepal Bar Association gathered outside the Judicial Council Secretariat for the protest.

The association has been agitating after the council revised its regulations in September last year, making changes in the judges’ hierarchy. The lawyers have objected to the newly introduced hierarchy of judges saying that it gave priority to those to be appointed from the judicial service over those from the lawyers background.

According to the amendment published in the Nepal Gazette on September 20, the chief registrar of the Supreme Court or the council secretary, if appointed a high court judge, would be ranked right after the chief judge of the high court.