Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Nepal Bar Association (NBA) has raised concerns over the Judicial Council’s recommendations for Supreme Court justices, calling for greater transparency and clear criteria in the selection process.
Issuing a statement on Wednesday, it also demanded respectable representation of legal practitioners in the judiciary.
“The NBA, its national conferences, and meetings of its central and advisory committees have repeatedly and strongly demanded that respectable representation of legal practitioners be ensured in judicial appointments. In this context, it is clear that the recommendations made for the appointment of judges lack objective criteria and transparency,” Senior Advocate Kedar Prasad Koirala, general secretary of the NBA, said in the statement.
The NBA has appealed to all legal practitioners, civil society and the media to unite to safeguard the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.
“The association believes that a situation has once again arisen in which all legal practitioners, civil society and the media must come together and move forward on the issue of cleansing and strengthening the judiciary in the interest of safeguarding its independence and impartiality and enhancing public confidence in the judiciary,” the statement said.
It also argued that the recommendations for the appointment of Supreme Court Justices were unconstitutional.
“The NBA has serious concerns over the recommendations made on Tuesday for the appointment of Supreme Court Justices, as the legal practitioner cluster provided for under Article 129(5) of the Constitution of Nepal, 2025, has been ignored and the principle of inclusion in appointments, as provided under Article 42(1), has not been adopted,” the statement said.
A meeting of the Judicial Council on Tuesday decided to recommend Dr Ratna Bahadur Bagchand, chief judge of the Pokhara High Court; Chandra Bahadur Saru of the Patan High Court; Janak Pandey of the Hetauda bench of the Patan High Court; and Gokarna Dangi of the Birgunj bench of the Janakpur High Court for appointment as Supreme Court Justices.
