Petition against Koshi govt formation referred to full bench

KATHMANDU: The writ petition against the formation of the Koshi Province Government will now be heard by the full bench of the Supreme Court.

During the hearing on Monday, a division bench of Justices Sushmalata Mathema and Til Prasad Shrestha decided to refer the case to the full bench.

Former Chief Minister of Koshi Province Government and CPN-UML leader Hikmat Bahadur Karki filed the writ petition on July 7 after the ruling coalition of Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist), and Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) claimed to have the majority to form the government by including the signature of Speaker Babu Ram Gautam.

Province Chief Parshuram Khapung swiftly appointed Uddhab Thapa of the Nepali Congress based on those signatures.

Karki has argued in the petition that forming the government using the Speaker’s signature is unconstitutional.

In the previous hearing, the Supreme Court ordered the province government not to take any decision that could have a long-term impact and asked the province government to produce the original documents submitted during the claim for government formation.