The Supreme Court on Monday annulled the government’s decision to transfer Nepal Electricity Authority Managing Director Hitendra Dev Shakya.

A bench of Justices Nahakul Subedi and Shreekanta Paudel ruled against transferring Shakya to a newly created post of energy expert at the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat. The court allowed him to continue serving as NEA managing director.

The court’s verdict noted that the proposal by the concerned minister to transfer Shakya appeared biased and retaliatory. It stated that decisions and actions based on such a proposal cannot be considered fair, just, or reasonable. The ruling added that such arbitrary decisions and actions, evident from the case files, cannot stand under the rule of law and justice.

The transfer followed Energy Minister Kulman Ghising’s appointment, when the Cabinet created the special post to transfer Shakya. Shakya had challenged the move on November 7, seeking reinstatement.

On September 21, the Cabinet appointed Manoj Silwal, a former NEA deputy executive director, as managing director, just five months after Shakya took charge.

Earlier, on March 24, the KP Sharma Oli-led Cabinet had removed Ghising—credited with ending Nepal’s chronic load-shedding—and appointed Shakya in his place. Ghising opposed the decision, decrying political interference in NEA’s leadership, which had drawn widespread public and civil society criticism.

After the Gen Z protests toppled the Oli government, Ghising became Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation in the Sushila Karki-led interim government.

Reports suggest Ghising’s earlier push to collect billions in overdue payments from industries for dedicated and trunk power lines contributed to his dismissal as NEA managing director.