Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Loktanrik Samajbadi Party (LSP) has requested the Speaker of the Madhesh Province Assembly not to suspend its member Abhiram Sharma.
In a letter written on Monday, LSP’s deputy parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly, Upendra Mahato, urged Speaker Ram Chandra Mandal to reconsider his decision to suspend Sharma.
Sharma was the parliamentary party leader of LSP in the provincial assembly. He was convicted of the murder of ASI Thaman BK in 2015. The Mahottari District Court has sentenced him to life imprisonment. The provincial assembly suspended Sharma on May 3, nearly five months after he was sentenced by the district court.
“In the notice published by the Madhesh Province Assembly Secretariat, you mentioned that Madhesh Province Assembly Member Abhiram Sharma has been suspended in accordance with Rule 210 (4) of the Madhesh Province Assembly Member Operation Rules, 2018. We would like to inform you that no action, such as the suspension of a person, should be taken until the final verdict of any case is issued,” Mahato stated in the letter.
Mahato argued in the letter that suspension cannot be imposed as the right to appeal remains even if the Mahottari District Court has convicted Sharma. “There is still time for this verdict to become final. In such a situation, it is not legally appropriate to suspend Madhesh Province Assembly member Abhiram Sharma from the membership of the Madhesh Provincial Assembly,” the letter asserts.
