Miscellaneous
Order makes impeachment motion uncertain
Nearly three months after the registration of an impeachment motion against Lokman Singh Karki, the suspended chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the Legislature-Parliament on Sunday completed theoretical discussion on the agenda, forwarding it to the Impeachment Recomme-ndation Committee for further process.Nearly three months after the registration of an impeachment motion against Lokman Singh Karki, the suspended chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the Legislature-Parliament on Sunday completed theoretical discussion on the agenda, forwarding it to the Impeachment Recomme-ndation Committee for further process.
However, just two hours after the parliamentary move, the Supreme Court gave its verdict that Karki was ineligible to head the anti-graft body. This has raised questions about the fate of impeachment motion in Parliament.
While some believe that the utility of the impeachment motion ended with the court annulling Karki’s appointment, others say impeachment can move ahead as the court has not disqualified him from taking up any government responsibility in future.
If any person holding a constitutional position is impeached, s/he cannot hold any government position in future. CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Ram Naryan Bidari, who is also a lawyer, said Parliament can proceed with the impeachment motion.
“The court verdict doesn’t stop the impeachment motion from moving forward,” Bidari, a member of Impeachment Recommenda- tion Committee (IRC), told the Post. He argued that the motion has to be decided in Parliament.
Subas Nembang, senior leader of the CPN-UML and former Speaker of Parliament, said it would be insignificant to take the impeachment process ahead as the SC has ordered that Karki is ineligible for the position. The senior advocate argued that it would be illogical to impeach the person who is not eligible for the job.
According to Rewati Raman Bhandari, another member of the IRC, further decision would be taken after consulting with legal experts and political leaders. As many as 157 lawmakers from the ruling CPN (Maoist Centre) and the opposition CPN-UML on October 19 registered the motion in Parliament.