Political Crisis Worsens in Nepal as SC Quashes Appointment of 20 Cabinet Ministers
A division bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and Justice Prakash Kumar Dhungana said that Cabinet expansions after the dissolution of the House were unconstitutional and hence, the ministers cannot discharge their duties, a report in the Kathmandu Post said.
The political crisis deepened in Nepal on Tuesday after the Supreme Court quashed the appointment of 20 ministers by beleaguered Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, invalidating his two Cabinet expansions since the dissolution of the House of Representatives, according to a media report. A division bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and Justice Prakash Kumar Dhungana said that Cabinet expansions after the dissolution of the House were unconstitutional and hence, the ministers cannot discharge their duties, a report in the Kathmandu Post said.
With the order, there are only five ministers left in Oli’s Cabinet, including the Prime Minister, it said. The court passed the judgement on petitions filed on June 7 by six individuals, including senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi, demanding that the Cabinet expansions by the caretaker government be quashed.
Oli, 69, who is heading a minority government after losing a trust vote in the House last month, expanded his Cabinet on June 10 and June 4, inducting 17 ministers, amid widespread criticism and the ongoing political crisis in the Himalayan nation. Three state ministers were also appointed. The Supreme Court has issued an interim order asking not to allow the ministers appointed after the House dissolution to function, said senior advocate Tripathi.
