The Judicial Council meeting on Tuesday discussed the issue, although the Nepal Bar Association is yet to recommend a member for the council after advocate Upendra Keshari Neupane resigned on January 7."Judicial Council met on Tuesday and discussed names for the positions of justice at the Supreme Court. The next meeting of the council would be summoned soon," said Krishna Giri, acting secretary at JC.
The council has a tradition of recommending judges' appointment only if meeting is attended by all its members.
However, Chief Justice Ram Kumar Prasad Shah, who also heads the JC, had made it clear on February 24 that the justice appointment process cannot halted indefinitely waiting for NBA to send its representative.
JC had asked NBA, the umbrella organization of lawyers, on January 8 to recommend a name of an advocate for the position of council member as per the constitutional provision. As per the interim constitution, the chief justice on the recommendation of Nepal Bar Association appoints a senior advocate or an advocate with at least 20 years of experience as a JC member.
NBA has not been able to pick an advocate or a senior advocate for the position of JC member despite holding several rounds of meetings.
Three positions of permanent justice are lying vacant at the Supreme Court while there are no ad-hoc justices at the court currently. As per the interim constitution, ad-hoc justices may be appointed for a fixed term in the Supreme Court if, at any time, the number of existing justices becomes insufficient by the reason of an increase in the number of cases at the apex court.
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