Judicial Council recommends SC justices; Senior Justice Malla objects the Recommendation

Kathmandu / Oct 6: The Judicial Council has recommended four judges of the High Courts for appointment to the Supreme Court.

According to a member of the council, three of the recommended judges are chief judges of High Courts, while Dr Ratna Bahadur Bagchand is the chief judge of the High Court in Pokhara.

The recommended judges are Chandra Bahadur Saru, Janak Pandey and Gokarna Dangi, along with Bagchand.

Senior Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla objects the Recommendation

Senior-most Supreme Court Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla, who is also a member of the Judicial Council, has issued a dissenting opinion over the recommendation of four candidates for appointment as Supreme Court justices.

Another member of the Judicial Council said Justice Malla disagreed with the recommendations, arguing that the names had been selected arbitrarily without following due process or considering proper criteria.

“She said this cannot be done this way. Once names are selected from among the candidates, there must be some basis for the selection,” the council member said. “She stated that if we select their names without being able to provide any justification, she could not agree and therefore recorded her dissent.”

According to the council member, Justice Malla cited four grounds for her dissent.

First, she argued that the proposed recommendations were contrary to the Constitution, relevant laws and fundamental principles of justice.

Second, she objected to the failure to provide transparent, objective and credible criteria for the recommendations.

Third, she said it was immature and likely to remain controversial to bypass senior district judges who had been awaiting promotion for a long time and were ahead in the seniority order, while selecting others.

Fourth, she argued that there had been no adequate effort to ensure maximum inclusiveness in the recommendations, while the legal community and the Nepal Bar Association had been completely overlooked.

“She wrote her own opinion stating that she could not agree with recommendations made in this manner,” the council member said. “Despite her dissent, all the remaining members unanimously recommended the names of the four candidates.”