The hearing on writ petitions challenging the dissolution of the House of Representatives has been postponed. The constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, scheduled to hear the case on Wednesday, delayed the hearing as not all defendants had submitted their written replies.

One of the petitioners’ lawyers, Premraj Silwal, said the hearing has been rescheduled for December 8. The constitutional bench on October 29 had ordered all defendants to submit written replies within seven days, later extended to 15 days.

The Supreme Court had stated that the final hearing would proceed only after all written responses were filed. So far, not all submissions have been received.

Seventeen writ petitions challenging the dissolution have been filed, but only initial hearings have taken place. During the preliminary hearings, the apex court declined to issue an interim order and asked the defendants to submit a written response through the Office of the Attorney General.

The writ petitions have named the offices of the president and the prime minister, among others, as defendants. The bench said it would consider the petitioners’ demands only during the final hearing.

Petitioners’ lawyers have argued that the dissolution of the lower house and the formation of an interim government led by former chief justice Sushila Karki were unconstitutional, and had requested an interim order restricting the government from acting beyond election preparations.

President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved the lower house on September 12, following the recommendation of the interim government subsequently after Karki’s appointment as prime minister. The constitutional bench hearing the writ petitions comprises Chief Justice Prakashman Singh Raut and justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Phuyal, and Manoj Kumar Sharma.