The Nepal Bar Association has not been able to recommend names for the vacant post at Judicial Council (JC) owing to the differences in the Nepali Congress-aligned DLA
The Nepal Bar Association has not been able to recommend names for the vacant post at Judicial Council (JC) owing to the differences in the Nepali Congress-aligned Democratic Lawyers Association (DLA).
With around a dozen candidates vying for the seat, top NBA officials said, they were having difficulty picking a suitable candidate.
“Our aim is to send a unanimous candidate to the Judicial Council,” said NBA General Secretary Sunil Pokharel. Sources said a section of NBA members have put their weight behind Advocate Beni Bahadur Karki, who is close to one of the DLA factions, resulting in dissatisfaction among the lawyers from another DLA faction. Both factions are wrangling over the JC seat that is vacant after Upendra Kesari Neupane, the former DLA head, resigned in January.
The candidates contesting for the JC seat include advocates Ram Prasad Sitaula, Prem Bahadur Khadka, Thaneshwor Bhatta, Biswo Kanta Mainali, Ram Prasad Shrestha, and Chandeshwor Shrestha, former attorney generals Yagya Murti Banjade and Laxmi Bahadur Nirala, and former Supreme Court (SC) justice Kamal Narayan Das. Sources said if the two factions of DLA fail to come up with a common candidate, the NBA will have to settle between former attorney generals Mahadev Yadav or Banjada. As for former SC justice Das, he could face constitutional hurdle in the nomination process since ex-apex court justices are eligible to take up office only in National Human Rights Commission.
The JC has already written to the NBA, asking it to send its nominee. The urgency to fill the vacancy comes at a time when JC is deliberating appointments at the SC where three permanent positions are vacant.
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