Himal Press 
SURKHET: Former Karnali Province Chief Minister Raj Kumar Sharma has formally lost his seat in the Karnali Province Assembly following a Supreme Court ruling.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Sharma’s writ petition challenging the Karnali Provincial Assembly Secretariat’s decision to declare his seat vacant on the recommendation of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP).
A division bench of Justices Sharanga Subedi and Shrikant Poudel dismissed Sharma’s writ petition.
Sharma joined the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) after the then CPN (Maoist Centre) was merged with several political parties to form the NCP in November last year. He parted ways with the party on December 2, 2025.
The NCP subsequently recommended that the provincial assembly secretariat declare his seat vacant.
Sharma, who was the parliamentary party leader of the CPN (Maoist Centre) in the Karnali Provincial Assembly, resigned from the post on December 3, 2025.
A meeting of the NCP parliamentary party, chaired by Chief Whip Krishna Bahadur GC, accepted his resignation and decided to recommend to the party’s Central Committee that he be removed as a provincial assembly member.
Based on the NCP’s letter, the Karnali Provincial Assembly Secretariat on February 25 published a notice declaring Sharma’s seat vacant.
Sharma subsequently challenged the decision in the Supreme Court. In his petition, Sharma sought an order to annul the decision declaring his seat vacant.
During an initial hearing on February 26, a single bench of Justice Meghraj Pokharel issued an interim order directing the provincial assembly not to implement the decision to make Sharma’s seat vacant until the final verdict is passed.
However, with the apex court’s verdict on Monday, Sharma’s effort to retain his provincial assembly seat has come to an end.
Sharma was elected to the provincial assembly from Rukum West-1(B) in the 2022 provincial assembly election. He served as chief minister of Karnali Province from January 12, 2023, to April 3, 2024.
