Supreme Court to review its decision on legitimacy of NC leadership

Kathmandu / Aug 6: The Supreme Court has issued an order for reviewing its verdict on a case relating to legitimacy of the Nepali Congress (NC), which is now being led by Gagan Thapa.

A full bench of Chief Justice Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma and Justices Nitya Nand Pandey and Shree Kant Paudel on Thursday allowed for the review of SC’s earlier decision on NC’s leadership legitimacy.

Then president of NC, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and then acting president, Purna Bahadur Khadka, had appealed to SC for review of its decision. In response, SC gave consent to hear on petition.

Earlier, Justices Saranga Subedi and Nripadhwaj Niraula had issued a decision, recognizing the working committee led by Gagan Thapa, who was elected president through the special general convention held on April 17.

New full bench to rehear case

The SC will now hear the dispute afresh before a newly constituted full bench.

The three justices who allowed the review petition—Chief Justice Dr. Manoj Sharma and Justices Nityananda Pandey and Shrikant Poudel—will not participate in deciding the merits of the case.

Likewise, Justices Subedi and Niraula, who delivered the original verdict, are also barred from sitting on the review bench because judges who have already expressed an opinion on a case cannot participate in its review.

According to SC Spokesperson Arjun Koirala, a separate full bench of three justices will be constituted to hear the petition.

The new bench will examine the case from the beginning before deciding whether to uphold or overturn the earlier judgment.