A meeting of the of the Judicial Council headed by Chief Justice Kheel Raj Regmi decided to study the verdicts in the aftermath of the recent Supreme Court direction to the JC to punish judges who gave clean chit to Gupta at the Special Court four years ago. [break]
Judges Bhoop Dhoj Adhikari, Cholendra SJB Rana and Komal Prasad Sharma had acquitted Gupta. Adhikari has already retired while Shama and Rana are still in service.
According to a member who spoke on condition of anonymity, there were around ten judiciary notices and JC members would first study them before starting an official probe on the verdict.
The decision came amidst growing criticism of the JC for not taking action against judges despite Supreme Court rulings to investigate faulty decisions passed by lower court judges.
JC has the authority to take action against judges upto the level of appellate court.
Emerging from the meeting, Law and Justice Minister Brijesh Kumar Gupta said the meeting focused on ways to punish the three judges of the Special Court.
Similarly, the meeting also decided to add another 103 posts of district judges. It came after a JC committee headed by member Upenda Keshari Neupane found that the exiting 135 district judges were insufficient to handle growing number of cases at courts.
"The judges will be appointed in three phases over two years," said the member.
The meeting also discussed a new draft of the Judicial Council Act, but took no decision on it besides discussing appointment of justices at the Supreme Court.
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