The Supreme Court on Friday issued an interlocutory interim order blocking the split of the Janamat Party after the party chair CK Raut filed a petition to stop the division.

A single bench of Justice Til Prasad Shrestha issued the order and called both sides to appear for a hearing on November 3. The order bars the Election Commission from moving ahead with registering a new party or taking further steps related to the split.

Raut moved the apex court on Thursday, arguing in his petition that efforts to register a new party were unconstitutional. The Election Commission has also been named as a defendant.

A faction led by vice-chair Deepak Sah on Sunday applied to the Election Commission to register a new party called Janaswaraj, claiming backing from about 20 percent of the Janamat Party’s 52-member central committee. Verification of the claim has yet to be completed.

Another vice-chair, Abdul Khan, had already left the party earlier. Janamat won six seats in the 2022 parliamentary election and led the Madhesh provincial government until Tuesday.