SC to hear House restoration writ today

A supplementary writ petition demanding the restoration of the House of Representatives will be heard today by the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench. The petition was filed with the signatures of 68 lawmakers, most of them from the Nepali Congress.

Among the signatories are 65 Nepali Congress lawmakers, including eight who had earlier filed a similar petition. Three former lawmakers from other parties have also signed the plea. Former Attorney General Khama Bahadur Khati submitted the petition on Tuesday through authorized representatives.

The petition includes the signatures of 57 Nepali Congress lawmakers, Goma Labh of the Janamat Party, Hasina Khatun of the Ashok Rai-led Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP), and independent lawmaker Yogendra Mandal.

The petition asks the court to stop all activities related to the election of the House of Representatives. It argues that Prime Minister Sushila Karki was appointed in violation of the Constitution, and therefore any parliamentary election held under her government would also be unconstitutional.

“The parliamentary elections proposed by an unconstitutionally appointed prime minister and her government would be invalid. Therefore, an order should be issued to stop all election-related activities,” the petition states.

Earlier, on December 9, eight Nepali Congress lawmakers had filed a writ petition seeking the restoration of the House of Representatives. In that case, the Constitutional Bench issued a show-cause order on December 17.

Likewise, on November 26, 75 lawmakers from the CPN-UML filed a separate petition at the Supreme Court demanding the restoration of the House. During the preliminary hearing, the court asked the President, the Prime Minister, and other concerned parties to submit written responses.

With the latest petition, the total number of former lawmakers from the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and other parties seeking the restoration of the House of Representatives has reached 143.