Kathmandu, Nepal, November 23, 2021: Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana’s discretionary power to constitute bench and assign cases to the justices has been officially curtailed from Monday.
As the Supreme Court (Second Amendment) Regulations 2021 has come into publication in the Nepal Gazette on Monday, Chief Justice will no more have to use his discretion to constitute bench and assign cases to justices. From now onwards, all the cases will be assigned through lottery system.
The amended regulation states as for the hearing of a case registered in a court, a bench shall be constituted and cases shall be scheduled through lottery. A full-bench of Supreme Court (SC) Justice held on November 18 sans presence of Chief Justice Rana had amended the regulations to provision for lottery-based assignment of cases to the justices.
The SC justice had been boycotting the benches demanding the provision of assigning cases through the lottery system. Though the SC justice have returned into the benches to hear the cases, the Nepal Bar Association (NBA), the umbrella organization of Nepalese lawyers, however, has been protesting against Chief Justice Rana demanding his resignation.
One of the many accusations labeled against Chief Justice Rana was that he has been assigning cases to justices close to him so as to issue a verdict for undue benefits.
