Former Nepal Police chief Dan Bahadur Karki has moved the Supreme Court to challenge the government’s decision to remove him as Inspector General of Police (IGP).

Advocate Tika Bahadur Kunwar, representing Karki, approached the Supreme Court with a writ petition. “We have reached the court with the writ petition. Other procedures are underway,” Kunwar said.

On Wednesday, the government removed Karki as IGP and appointed him the prime minister’s special security adviser. Additional Inspector General Manoj Kumar KC has since been appointed as the new police chief and has already assumed office.

Karki has opted to legally challenge the decision to relieve him of his responsibilities as police chief.

The move has revived memories of a similar confrontation three decades ago, when then Home Minister Bamdev Gautam removed IGP Achyut Krishna Kharel from office.

Gautam transferred Kharel to the National Investigation Department, where no post had been sanctioned for him, and appointed Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan as IGP in his place. However, a subsequent Cabinet led by then Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa reinstated Kharel as police chief.

At the time, Kharel had argued that the police organisation should be protected from attempts to serve vested interests. He also said police personnel should have the fundamental right to remain within the organisation and retire from the same force after joining the service.