The House of Representatives on Sunday forwarded the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana to the Impeachment Recommendation Committee to probe allegations against him.

The proposal to send the motion to the recommendation committee was endorsed by majority votes.

“The proposal to send the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana to the recommendation committee has been endorsed,” announced Speaker Agni Sapkota.

Registered on February 13, the motion was presented in the lower house for the discussion on Sunday.

The recommendation committee to investigate the allegations against Rana was formed on March 6.

As many as 98 lawmakers of the ruling coalition–Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist)— had registered the motion against Rana with 21 allegations which included promoting corruption in the judiciary and failing to discharge his duties.

Cross-party lawmakers presented their views over the motion before it was sent to the recommendation committee.

While the ruling party lawmakers said it was necessary to impeach Rana to reform the judiciary, CPN-UML lawmakers said the motion was not registered with a good intention.

“Why was the motion not tabled in the House for six months,” said Khagraj Adhikari, a UML lawmaker. “It has been presented only after announcing the date for the elections. Do we have enough time to complete the probe and put it to vote?”

The recommendation committee has a maximum of three months to investigate the allegations and present its report before it is put to vote.

Rule 163 of the Regulation of the House of Representatives allows a maximum of three months for the recommendation committee to probe the allegations in the impeachment.

The impeachment motion against Rana cannot be endorsed without the support of the UML, the main opposition, which has 98 lawmakers in the House. To impeach Rana, the motion needs to be passed by a two-thirds majority in the 271-strong House, for which 181 lawmakers must vote in favour of the impeachment motion.