Opposition continues to hit streets in Nepal as Supreme Court prepares to deliver verdict next week

By ANI | Published: July 9, 2021 11:10 PM2021-07-09T23:10:01+5:302021-07-09T23:20:03+5:30

With Supreme Court expected to announce verdict next week over the case of parliament dissolution, the opposition alliance has continued to hit the streets in the Nepali capital Kathmandu.

Opposition continues to hit streets in Nepal as Supreme Court prepares to deliver verdict next week | Opposition continues to hit streets in Nepal as Supreme Court prepares to deliver verdict next week

Opposition continues to hit streets in Nepal as Supreme Court prepares to deliver verdict next week

With Supreme Court expected to announce verdict next week over the case of parliament dissolution, the opposition alliance has continued to hit the streets in the Nepali capital Kathmandu.

Drenched in rain or under the scorching sun, sloganeering or burning an effigy, the students union affiliated to the opposition alliance has continued to protest.

"We support justice, the constitution and democracy. That's why we would accept the verdict given by the Supreme Court. Honouring the supreme judicial body, we expect that Apex Court would deliver the verdict in support of people and democracy by reinstating the house," Puskar Bastola, a student leader from the opposition alliance told ANI.

A total of 30 writ petitions have been filed against the HoR dissolution. As many as 146 lawmakers of the HoR including President Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepali Congress (NC) have filed the writ petitions demanding the reinstatement of the HoR and appointing Deuba as the Prime Minister of Nepal.

Marathon discussion over the petitions filed with the Apex body of the nation ended earlier on July 5. The next date for hearing has been fixed for July 12 when the verdict on writ petitions will come.

While several writ petitions had been filed against Oli's move, the court had decided to issue a verdict on the petition filed by the main opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba first and began the hearing.

After pleading on behalf of the petitioners and the government, the court also heard four amici curiae sent by the central committee and the Supreme Court chapter of the Nepal Bar Association about the issue on Monday.

Of four senior advocates, two argued the House should be reinstated while two others said Oli's move was right.

The Oli-led government had announced the dissolution of the House on May 22 arguing the House could not elect a prime minister that would secure a majority in the House and also did not give him majority support.

Anti-government protesters who has intensified their protest with approaching hearing dates have vowed to continue their protest until the lower house is reinstated.

"The law is what all the people across the globe have been accepting and following strictly. The Supreme Court is the supreme body that everyone has been following and respecting. We would accept the directions given by the Apex Court. If it doesn't come in the favour of public, then we would continue our struggle," Shyam Siwakoti, another student leader told ANI.

The latest round of house dissolution which comes in less than six months of reinstatement has thrown the Himalayan Nation into political chaos and instability. Being the first Prime Minister of Federal Republic of Nepal, KP Sharma Oli has attempted to dissolve the house for second time.

Leading the writ petitions of house dissolution for second time, Chief Justice Cholendra JB Rana has formed a five-member constitutional bench under his leadership to hear the writ. Other Justices in the bench include Deepak Kumar Karki, Meera Khadka, Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada and Dr Aananda Mohan Bhattarai.

The Justices in the bench are the senior-most among those who feature in the roster of constitutional bench. Earlier, the constitutional bench had issued an order ruling that the advocates should finish their arguments within 32 hours.

Fifteen hours was allocated for advocates on behalf of writ petitioners and 15 hours for legal practitioners of Prime Minister and government attorneys. Similarly, the remaining two hours have been set aside for amicus curiae.

( With inputs from ANI )

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

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