Constitutional Council to sit for next round to discuss CJ's appointment

A meeting of the Constitutional Council held today in Singha Durbar discussed the appointment of Chief Justice, but failed to conclude.

Though the appointment of CJ was the single agenda of the meeting held under the Chair of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, no substantive decision was made, according to National Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina. The meeting agreed to sit for the next round of dialogue for the decision.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, Purna Bahadur Khadka, said the meeting discussed the agenda regarding the appointment of CJ, but could not conclude. The issue will be finalized by the next meeting and its schedule is yet to be fixed.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire, NA Chairman Timilsina, House of Representatives (HoR) opposition leader KP Sharma Oli, Deputy Speaker Indira Rana, Deputy Prime Minister Khadka, and Chief Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi were among those attending the meeting.

Under Article 284 of the Constitution, the Constitutional Council is for making recommendations under this constitution for the appointment of the Chief Justice, the chief, and officials of constitutional bodies, consisting of the Chairperson and members. The Prime Minister is the Chairperson and Chief Justice, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairperson of the National Assembly, the leader of the Opposition Party in the House of Representatives, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives are the members of the Council. When the position of the Chief Justice falls vacant and a recommendation has to be made for the same, the Minister for Justice shall be present in the Constitutional Council as a member. The Chief Secretary of the Government of Nepal shall function as the secretary of the Constitutional Council.

Earlier, a meeting among the three political parties including the Prime Minister and Speaker held on Sunday agreed to recommend the name of the new CJ from the Council meeting and the meeting was summoned by the Prime Minister accordingly. The post of CJ has been lying vacant for months.

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