A source said JC members Upendra Kesari Neupane and Khem Narayan Dhungana are not in favour of appointing Balram Bista and Surendra Bir Basnyat to the post because of their past “misconduct and poor performance”.  Basnyat already faces a complaint at the JC for deviance in justice delivery in a case relating to a land dispute when he was posted at the Patan Appellate Court.

Nominations of Deepak Kumar Karki, Poshnath Sharma and Bam Kumar Shrestha have also been disputed. “Issues of conduct and justice delivery have been raised against these individuals who may see them excluded from the list,” said a senior JC official who declined to be identified.

The other candidates for the position include Tej Bahadur KC, Kedar Chalise, Meera Khadka, Purshotam Bhandari, Sambhu Khadka, Dilli Raj Poudel, Sarada Ghimire, Dambar Shahi, Ishwor Khatiwada and Anand Mohan Bhattarai.

The position of chief judge in all 16 appellate courts across the country is vacant for a long time. The past chief judges at these courts had either retired or were transferred to the Supreme Court (SC).

Durga Upreti of Janakpur Appellate Court, Madhav Chalise of Pokhara Appellate Court, Hari Prasad Ghimire of Baglung Appellate Court, Lokendra Mallik of Tulsipur Appellate Court, Keshav Mainali of Nepalgunj Appellate Court, and Jageshwor Subedi of Butwal Appellate Court had resigned from their posts months ago. Ek Raj Acharya, the chief judge of Jumla Appellate Court, had quit expressing dissatisfaction over the JC’s decision of not nominating him for the job at the SC.

Baidya Nath Upadhyay of Hetauda Appellate Court and Dipak Raj Joshi of Dipayal Appellate Court had left after both got the apex court appointment.

The top job at the appeal courts in Mahendranagar, Rajbiraj, Biratnagar and Ilam are also vacant.