Nagarik Unmukti Party Nepal chair Resham Chaudhary has filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court, challenging the Election Commission’s decision to scrap his candidacy for the House of Representatives elections.

In the petition, Chaudhary has claimed that the election officer acted unlawfully in rejecting his nomination and has sought an interim order to reinstate it. He has demanded that his nomination be kept intact, allowing him to contest the election from Kailali-1.

The Supreme Court said the petition was registered on Friday and that a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sunday.

The election office had rejected Chaudhary’s nomination, citing his conviction and life sentence, despite the presidential clemency granted to him. The office said the pardon did not annul the court verdict and that records of his crime and imprisonment still stand.

The Election Commission scrapped Chaudhary’s candidacy in line with the Act Relating to the Election of Members of the House of Representatives. According to the commission, individuals convicted of serious criminal offences and sentenced accordingly are disqualified from contesting parliamentary elections under existing laws.

Chaudhary was convicted of masterminding the 2015 Tikapur incident, in which eight police personnel and a toddler were killed during violent clashes between protesters and police. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the district and high courts, a verdict later upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2023.

President Ramchandra Paudel granted him clemency on the government’s recommendation in May 2023 by commuting his remaining sentence. Presenting his clarification, Chaudhary had argued that the clemency cleared him of the charges, a claim the commission rejected as inconsistent with the law.

The commission also cited a precedent from October 2022, when Chaudhary’s candidacy was similarly scrapped during the previous House elections.

A separate writ petition challenging the presidential clemency granted to Chaudhary is currently sub judice at the Supreme Court.