When Justice Bam, in response to Dahal’s writ, did not issue an interim order as demanded by the pro-Maoist lawyers, the lawyers ganged up on him and forced him to change his decision, something quite unprecedented in Nepal’s legal history or possibly anywhere else in the world for that matter. When the pressure built up, Justice Bam changed his decision slightly and ordered the government to furnish written clarifications regarding nine out of the 11 people recommended and be present in the court after three days for further hearings.
The Constitutional Council – which presently comprises of the prime minister, chief justice, speaker, main opposition party leader, the two deputy prime ministers and defense minister – last week recommended 11 people to various posts but Dahal objected to the decision arguing that he was not present in the meeting that recommended the names for the vacant posts. While Dahal may be right since the Council did not follow the set procedure of having to invite the members to the meeting with a proper agenda at least 48 hours before the meeting, he should not forget that he had repeatedly skipped meetings in the past despite being invited. Add to that the fact that these posts had been lying vacant for years and it gives one a sense of how urgent it was to appoint the members to these constitutional bodies.
Dahal had reservations against those recommendations and he moved the court, which is perfectly fine. However, the unlawful behavior displayed by the lawyers, that too at the apex court is unacceptable and as such needs condemnation. Moreover, the lawyers’ plea to the court to treat the case differently since it was filed by none other than the Maoist chairman himself is silly to say the least. It is preposterous that lawyers, who should best understand that cases cannot be treated differently depending on the profile of the person concerned, were arguing for preferential treatment. Unfortunately, this incident has given the people the room to question our lawyers’ impartiality, something that is at the heart of the justice system. We sincerely hope that appropriate steps will be taken to rectify the mistake and that Nepalis will not have to hear and read about such incidents in the future.
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