CA term extension a political issue: Karki

REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, Aug 26: Lawyers on Thursday argued before the Supreme Court special bench that the Constituent Assembly (CA) enjoys the right to extend its term for whatever length of time it needs.

Pleading before the SC special bench chaired by Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi and including senior Justices Top Bahadur Magar, Damodar Sharma, Ramkumar Prasad Shah and Kalyan Shrestha, lawyer Mukti Pradhan said that the CA can extend its own term for one year and even more if it feels the need to do so.

"The CA is not defunct as claimed by the writ petitioners," he said, adding," It is functioning and so it can extend its term to promulgate a new constitution."

He, however, argued that there should be grounds for extending the term. "CA can extend its term if the objective behind that is meaningful," he added.

"What do you mean by meaningful?", Justice Kalyan Shrestha asked Pradhan. "What I mean is that the term can be extended only on meaningful grounds," Pradhan replied.

Unsatisfied with the answer, the bench raised another question "You lawyers who are pleading in favor of term extension argue that there should be justified grounds before extending the term. But what do you mean by justified grounds," the bench asked.

"There is no problem for the CA to extend its term but there should be proven legitimacy for that," Pradhan argued. Pradhan, who is close to the Maoists, was pleading as part of the amicus curie appointed by Nepal Bar Association (NBA) on a formal request by the Supreme Court.

Another lawyer, Harikrishna Karki, pleaded that the SC cannot take any decision regarding the CA´s term extension.

"The issue of CA term extension cannot be a matter of judicial review at the SC," Karki said, adding, "Extending or not extending the CA term falls under the jurisdiction of the CA and the apex court cannot impede the matter." He said this was a political issue.

The bench had asked a number of questions to both Pradhan and Karki.

The hearings on a writ petition concerning CA term extension are expected to be completed by Friday. The bench is likely to come up with a final decision on Sunday on CA term extension.