A contempt of court petition has been filed against Prime Minister Sushila Karki for not complying with a Supreme Court order to stay the ambassador recall.

Advocate Prem Silwal submitted the petition, saying the government has failed to implement the top court’s directive.

A day after the Supreme Court issued an interim order directing the government not to enforce its decision to recall 11 ambassadors appointed by the previous government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instructed the envoys to return. The court order had put the recall process on hold, but the ministry still moved ahead and sent the letters to the ambassadors.

According to Silwal, the writ petition has been registered, and the first hearing is set for November 23. The petition demands action against both the prime minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is the first contempt case filed against Karki, who earlier served as chief justice of the Supreme Court.

A Cabinet meeting on October 16 decided to recall 11 Nepali ambassadors serving abroad. Those asked to return were Krishna Prasad Oli in China, Shail Rupakheti in Germany, Dhan Prasad Pandit in Israel, Netra Prasad Timilsina in Malaysia, Ramesh Chandra Paudel in Qatar, Janga Bahadur Chauhan in Russia, Naresh Bikram Dhakal in Saudi Arabia, Shanil Nepal in Spain, Chandra Kumar Ghimire in the United Kingdom, Lok Darshan Regmi in the United States, and Durga Bahadur Subedi in Japan.