Impeachment motion against Nepal Chief Justice Rana tabled in Parliament

An impeachment motion against Nepal's Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana was tabled in parliament for further discussion, a month after 98 lawmakers registered it in House of Representatives

An impeachment motion against Nepal's Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana was tabled in parliament for further discussion on Sunday, a month after as many as 98 lawmakers registered it in the House of Representatives.

Dev Gurung, a lawmaker from the CPN (Maoist Center), tabled the motion in the House of Representatives (HoR), amid obstruction from lawmakers of the main opposition CPN-UML.

Gurung presented the 20-point impeachment motion which is backed by 95 lawmakers.

Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota allotted time for Gurung to present the impeachment proposal in the HoR. Following the presentation of the motion, the meeting of the HoR was postponed till March 16.

As many as 98 lawmakers of the Nepali Congress, the Maoist Centre and CPN (Unified Socialist) had registered the motion on February 13, charged Rana with corruption and cited his failure to run the Supreme Court smoothly.

While tabling the impeachment motion, Gurung accused Rana of being incompetent and incapable of performing his role as the chief justice and that he couldn't maintain transparency while fixing benches and finalising the cause list.

Gurung said that Rana demonstrated unprofessionalism by not going on a leave even when he was hospitalised after contacting Covid-19, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Rana was hospitalised in the last week of November for treatment for Covid-19 at the Armed Police Force Hospital in Balambu, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. He, however, didn't take a leave, the report said.

Gurung also said that the fact that justices and law professionals had boycotted him proves that he was not capable of leading the judiciary.

The next meeting of the lower house called for Wednesday will start deliberations on the motion, announced Speaker Sapkota.

On March 6, Parliament formed an 11-member study committee to study allegations against Rana.

The ruling coalition partners that have filed the impeachment motion against Rana, however, lack the numbers to endorse it.

The motion against Rana must be passed by the two-thirds members of the House. Given the current strength of the House at 271, as many as 181 votes are required.

The UML, which has 97 members in the House of Representatives, must vote in favour of the motion to pass the impeachment motion against Rana.