Appointment of Constitutional Bodies Contrary to the essence of the Constitution: Bar Association

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Kathmandu: The Nepal Bar Association, an umbrella organization of legal practitioners, has termed the appointment of constitutional body officials without a parliamentary hearing as against the constitution.

The annual general assembly of the Bar Association and the meeting of the 47th Central Executive Council held on Saturday stated that Article 292 of the Constitution of Nepal provides for a parliamentary hearing before the appointment of the office bearers of the constitutional body to be appointed on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council.

“This council meeting expresses its disagreement with such actions which are against the spirit and letter of the constitution,” said a statement issued after the meeting.

On December 14, the Constitutional Council had recommended the appointment of officials of the Constitutional Commission including the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority. However, President Bidhya Devi Bhandari had appointed the nominee saying that the parliamentary hearing could not be held for 45 days at the time of the dissolution of the parliament.

The Bar Association said that the government has brought the ordinance indiscriminately and warned not to do so. Stating that Article 114 of the constitution provides for the issuance of ordinances only if there is an urgent need to make some improvements other than the current session of both houses of the federal parliament, Barr urged not to use it at any time and in any situation.

The bar also urged the political parties to provide political stability to the country by showing constitutional ethics after the Supreme Court declared the dissolution of the House of Representatives unconstitutional.