Judiciary's Independence in Peril: Lawyers

Lawyers on Tuesday accused the government of attacking the judiciary's independence through its programme to expand the benches of the Supreme Court to Biratnagar and Nepalgunj.

Shambhu Thapa, former president of the Nepal Bar Association, said, "It is the test of the government and all lawyers should oppose the move.

He was ...

"Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai cannot decide on judicial matter through his budget speech," he said.

"This is a first attack of this government on the judiciary," Thapa said, adding that the plan contradicts with the concept of independence of judiciary.

The Finance Minister, Thapa said, does not have the authority to decide on increasing or decreasing the benches of the Supreme Court.

Former Attorney General Badri Bahadur Karki also accused the government of launching the programme without proper study. "Such a programme is unacceptable," he said, adding that "such a power cannot be exercised by other bodies than the Constituent Assembly".

President of Democratic Lawyers' Forum Upendra Keshari Neupane urged the government to determine the process of extending SC benches only through the new constitution.

Advocate Bhimarjun Acharya and forum's president Tika Ram Bhattarai also opposed the plan. They said the plan reflected the intention of the government to interfere with the judicial independence.