On/Off the Record

By P.R. Pradhan Those constitutional experts, political leaders, academicians, and former officials believe that the three major organs of the nation are sick today. The executive, legislator and judiciary are the prime organs of the nation but all of them are seriously ill, they have described. Of course, there is the government to perform its executive role but the five-party alliance government is non-functional. There are ministers but they are the puppet of those supreme leaders of their respective political parties. Ministers are powerless and can do nothing. The five-party chiefs are running the government while staying at a corner in their home. The leaders in the government discussed assigning 20 new ambassadors. The list of the proposed ambassadors is in the pocket of the leaders and the Foreign Ministry is unaware of the names, which is very unfortunate. The state of the legislator is also the same. The House of Representatives is unable to draft or approve the laws. There is a huge pile of files to be approved but the House was ended without running a single day perfectly. The dispute between the UML and the speaker was the main reason behind the disturbance in the House session. The state of the Supreme Court is very sad. The SC judges and Bar Association are trying to oust CJ Cholendra S Rana. Rana, on the other hand, is challenging his opponents. Not an odd, the Court has also become the victim of politics. One cannot say Rana is a clean person but his ousting from the post of the CJ is not the remedy on the present crisis in the court. The present scenario too is not odd as the SC CJs had started to destroy the code of conduct and norms of a judiciary along with the introduction of the multiparty system in 1989. First of all, Girija Prasad Koirala was responsible for intervening in the Court. He had dismissed Ghanendra Bahadur Singh before his retirement age to assign Bishwanath Upadhaya, who was closed to Koirala and a Nepali Congress sympathizer. Former chief justice Kalyan Shrestha is responsible to destroy the court further. Shrestha’s father, who was a judge in a Tarai district, was fired on the charge of corruption. Later, Shrestha also followed the same path as his father. Shrestha had given entrance to the European INGOs in the Supreme Court. Today, Shrestha, chairman of the Law Society, is running his organization with the European fund. Sushila Karki, another chief justice, is a notorious lady. She had visited PM’s residence at Baluatar to assign 80 judges in the Appellate Court. All the judges were appointed based on political belief when Pushpakamal Dahal was the PM. Karki’ who faced an impeachment case, used the Supreme Court to take personal revenge. Karki had given a controversial verdict on a case of withdrawing 200 million rupees from the then Indo-Swez Bank. Karki had confiscated a house and some gold from the person who was accused of withdrawing cash by producing a fake document. In the case of former Princess Sruti also, Karki had performed prejudiced behaviour. King Birendra’s aunty had gifted a house in Tahachal to him. That house was not the personal property of King Birendra. Later, that house was gifted to Princess Sruti but Karki had given the verdict to confiscate the house gifted to Sruti. She was unhappy with King Gyanendra as her husband Durga Subedi was not rewarded with the ministerial position. Similarly, Karki had disqualified Lokman Singh Karki, the then CIAA chief by overtaking an impeachment case in the House against Lokman. When Lokman had planned to catch big fish, he had to face the impeachment case. Sushila Karki is thus responsible for destroying the Court. In the same manner, when the prime minister and opposition party leaders started to recruit judges based on political belief, the present Supreme Court has already been spoiled and there is no way to correct the Court. Failure of the three major organs of the nation and also the failure of the civil service, Nepal Police, foreign policy are the syndromes of collapsing of a sovereign and independent nation. The present system has already been collapsed. Therefore, we must abandon the system and return to the 1990 constitution, otherwise, we may face the worst days ahead. It has already been late, however, it is better late than never!