SC issues show cause order in contempt case against PM’s Office

KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court has issued a show cause order in a contempt case filed against the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.

A division bench of Justices Sharanga Subedi and Nityananda Pandey issued the order hearing a contempt of court case for not implementing the Supreme Court’s order on Giri Bandhu Tea Estate filed by Advocate Om Prakash Aryal.

Aryal filed the contempt of court petition last week, claiming that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Minister for Land Management Balram Adhikari created an obstruction by bringing an ordinance instead of implementing the apex court verdict on the Giribandhu Tea Estate case issued on February 7 last year.

A constitutional bench led by Bishwambhar Prasad Shreshta ruled that the April 26, 2021 decision of the Oli cabinet contravened Section 12 (C) of the Land Act, 1964. “The decision and subsequent actions taken after that have been quashed,” the verdict read.

The full text of the verdict was released after three months.

“When determining the land area for the purpose of the land ceiling of Giribandhu Tea Estate Pvt Ltd, include the 51 bighas of land that were transferred as per the cabinet decision of 2004 for the purpose of establishing total land ceiling. Accordingly, the land exceeding the ceiling and not being used in the name of the tea industry, which is registered under the name of Giribandhu Tea Estate Pvt Ltd, should be acquired in the name of the Government of Nepal as per the Land Act, 1964,” the full text of the verdict states.