Nepal's Supreme Court orders appointment of Sher Bahadur Deuba as Prime Minister
Kathmandu, Jul 12: In a landmark verdict, Nepal's Supreme Court on Monday directed President Bidya Devi Bhandari to appoint Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minister by Tuesday and reinstated the House of Representatives for a second time in five months.
A five-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana issued the verdict stating that President Bhandari's decision to dissolve the lower house upon a recommendation of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli was an unconstitutional act, delivering a major blow to the veteran Communist leader who was preparing for snap polls.
The bench issued a mandamus to appoint Deuba as the Prime Minister by Tuesday.
Deuba, 74, has served as the prime minister on four occasions; first from 1995 to 1997, then from 2001 to 2002, again from 2004 to 2005, and from 2017 to 2018. Currently, he is the Leader of the Opposition in the House.
The court also ordered summoning a new session of the House of Representatives at 5 PM on July 18.
Chief Justice Rana also said that the bench has concluded that party whip does not apply when lawmakers take part in the voting to elect new Prime Minister as per Article 76(5) of the Constitution.
The bench comprising four other senior most justices -- Dipak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai -- had concluded hearings in the case last week.
President Bhandari had dissolved the 275-member lower house for the second time in five months on May 22 at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli and announced snap elections on November 12 and November 19.
Last week, the Election Commission had announced the schedule for mid-term elections despite the uncertainty over polls.
Welcoming the apex court verdict, senior leader of the Nepal Communist Party-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the judgement was commendable.
"The Supreme Court has done a commendable job. This has saved the political system that is in place. Since the court has directly asked to appoint Deuba as new prime minister, we have no role to play now," he said.
Under Madhav Nepal's leadership, 23 lawmakers of UML had put their signature in favour of Deuba's claim to the prime ministership.
Madhav Nepal also said that Parliament will now take all the decisions. "Parliament has been reinstated. We will now go to Parliament. All the decisions will be taken from Parliament now," he said. "The court's verdict has also raised moral questions on Oli's actions."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Oli's supporters, including youths and students affiliated to the ruling CPN-UML, took to streets here to protest against the apex court's verdict against the 69-year-old Communist leader.
Cadres of the National Youth Force affiliated to CPN -UML gathered in Maitighar Mandal near the court premises chanting slogans against the verdict.
"We are not bound to accept all the orders passed by the Supreme Court, beware!" read a banner carried by the demonstrators.
Oli's confidant and former minister Mahesh Basnet was also present at the protests, according to media reports.
As many as 30 petitions were filed against the dissolution of the House by the President. One of the petitions was filed by the Opposition parties' alliance with the signature of 146 lawmakers demanding reinstatement of the lower house of Parliament and appointment of Deuba as the prime minister.
Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 last year after President Bhandari dissolved the House and announced fresh elections on April 30 and May 10 at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli, amidst a tussle for power within the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
On February 23, the apex court reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives, in a setback to embattled Prime Minister Oli who was preparing for snap polls.
Oli, who is currently heading a minority government after losing a trust vote in the House, has repeatedly defended his move to dissolve the House of Representatives, saying some leaders of his party were attempting to form a "parallel government".
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Houses only for eligible evictees, not encroachers: Dy CM Shivakumar
Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said the state government would not provide houses to encroachers and would rehabilitate only eligible evictees on humanitarian grounds.
Responding to questions on whether housing would be provided to residents evicted during the recent demolition drive at Kogilu in north Bengaluru, Shivakumar said the government would not “gift” anything to those who had illegally occupied government land. He added that strict action would be taken against those who facilitated encroachments.
“There is no appeasement politics. Housing will be provided through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana only to eligible evictees on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister said several evictees had informed officials that they were allowed to set up sheds after paying money to intermediaries. “We will take action against those who collected money and enabled encroachment of government land,” he said.
He added that some evictees had claimed land rights were issued to them in the past. “I have asked officials to verify these claims. Some outsiders have also encroached the land recently. We will identify the original settlers and rehabilitate only genuine beneficiaries,” he said.
Responding to criticism from CPI(M) leaders and MPs from Kerala, Shivakumar said, “We are running our government well. They can make any statement they want, but we will not allow encroachments. The Left government in Kerala, which has not fulfilled promises made to flood victims, has no right to lecture Karnataka.”
Clarifying remarks attributed to him about Kerala, Shivakumar said he had not spoken ill of Keralites. “BJP leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar is twisting my statement and misleading people. I share a good relationship with the people of Kerala. I will campaign in the Kerala elections, and our government will come to power there,” he said.
He also said local body elections would be held next year and that the state’s guarantee schemes would continue.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje and other BJP leaders accused the Congress government of providing houses to “illegal immigrants” evicted from government land at Kogilu. Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka alleged that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh were residing in the area using fake Aadhaar cards.
