Dr Govinda KC and his team filed a complaint in Judicial Council (JC) on Tuesday demanding it should probe the deeds of Chief Justice (CJ) Gopal Prasad Parajuli.

Dr KC, Advocate Om Prakash Aryal and Pritam Bhattarai lodged a complaint at the council stating that the CJ Parajuli had reached retirement age a few months ago and all “illegal documents” and details in Council relating to the chief should be scrapped.

They have demanded that investigation should begin on CJ Parajuli.

The JC is chaired by CJ with Federal Minister for Law and Justice and senior-most judge of SC among others are members.

The controversy of CJ Parajuli had begun when he used his influence as Chairperson of JC to approve his revised citizenship date.

In application to the JC, Dr KC and his team have said there was an apparent conflict of interest when CJ Parajuli decided to resolve the issue of his birth date from the Judicial Council on June 13, 2017.

“The CJ is trying to hide all his details. We suspect his appointment is tainted. Therefore, the Judicial Council should investigate,” said Dr Govinda KC. “We will not stop our fight until and unless the CJ steps down and paves the way for a fair investigation into his documents and verdicts.”

Dr KC has been demanding a probe into the citizenship and academic certificates of CJ Parajuli, charging him with lacking transfer certificate and using multiple dates of birth in official documents. The CJ is found to have submitted multiple documents to government bodies, showing four different dates of birth.

The controversy over CJ’s birth date again arose on Monday when SC Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana boycotted a full bench that was hearing the contempt of court case against Kantipur daily, stating that Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli has already crossed his retirement age. Justice Rana had said that CJ Parajuli has already crossed his retirement age on August 5, 2017.  In a statement, Rana has also clearly mentioned the discrepancies over CJ Parajuli’s date of birth in his citizenship certificate and character certificate of the School Leaving Certificate.

Dr KC defers fast

Kathmandu: Dr Govinda KC on Tuesday postponed his fast-unto-death until March 18 stating that there have been many positive developments on the cause of his fight.

Issuing a statement, Dr KC has welcomed the suggestions from justices to CJ Gopal Parajuli to step down from his position. He said the Supreme Court’s decision that CJ Parajuli has already crossed his retirement age and he is serving illegally has reaffirmed their fight against the chief of Supreme Court. (PR)

NBA divided over Chief Justice controversy

KATHMANDU: Three Nepal Bar Association (NBA) members, including its Vice President Usha Malla Pathak, have taken a serious exception to the statement issued by the Bar’s General Secretary Khamma Bahadur Khati, condemning Supreme Court Justice Cholendra Shamsher JB Rana’s decision to boycott the full bench headed by Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli.

Justice Rana has refused to be a part of the full bench assigned to hear two separate court contempt cases against Kantipur daily and anti-corruption campaigner Dr Govinda KC, arguing that CJ Parajuli has already crossed his retirement age and he should have been retired by this time.

In the wake of Justice Rana’s announcement, the NBA general secretary had issued a statement, terming his move “an attack on judiciary”.

Now, the NBA Vice President Pathak and the members duo Bishnu Maya Bhusal and Kirshna Kumar Angdembe have issued a rejoinder to Khati’s statement, saying the latter’s response to Justice Rana’s decision contradicts the Bar’s very tenet of playing the role of an impartial mediator and maintaining the public faith in court.

The three Bar members have also called for the urgent need to resolve all disputes concerning the judiciary system.

Noting that there is a tradition of convening a meeting of Bar members to come up with a clear position on all serious matters, they have  raised a serious objection to Khati’s statement.

To take a side without the considering the opinions of other Bar members will have a negative impact in judiciary and taints the reputation of the NBA, the three Bar members have said.  The statement issued by NBA General Secretary Khati states that Justice Rana falsely accused CJ Parajuli, even though the discrepancy in the latter’s date of birth had been settled by the Judicial Council and he assumed the top judiciary post after the Constitutional Council approved him. (PR)