Supreme Court issues interim order on ‘unconstitutional’ appointment of Chief Minister in Koshi

The court order comes in the wake of widespread condemnation against the Speaker of Koshi provincial assembly Baburam Gautam who cast his vote to elect Nepali Congress’ Uddab Thapa chief minister last week.

NL Today

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Kathmandu: Nepal’s Supreme Court on Wednesday issued an interim order on a writ filed against the appointment of Chief Minister in Koshi province.  The court asked the CM not to not take decision of long-term importance till the final settlement of the case. A single bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla issued the interim order.

The court order comes in the wake of widespread condemnation and criticism against the Speaker of Koshi provincial assembly Baburam Gautam who cast his vote in favor of Uddab Thapa, the Nepali Congress parliamentary leader of the province, to elect him to the post of the chief minister last week.

 Thapa was appointed as chief minister based on majority claims with the backing of the Speaker.

Thapa was appointed after his predecessor, the then Chief Minister of Koshi Province, Hikmat Kumar Karki, failed to win a vote of confidence from the Provincial Assembly, leading to the collapse of the UML-led government in the province.

Following the ‘unconstitutional’ move by Gautam, Hikmat Bahadur Karki had filed a writ petition against the appointment. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hold the next hearing on the case on July 23.