Nepal’s first woman acting Chief Justice Sushila Karki has assumed office, months after the country got its first woman President and Speaker.
Ms. Karki (63), the senior-most judge in Nepal’s Supreme Court, has done her Masters in Political Science from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
Known for her ‘zero tolerance’ for corruption, Ms. Karki succeeded former Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha who retired on Tuesday.
Though Ms. Karki’s name was recommended by the Constitutional Council, her formal appointment to the top post could not be announced without passing through the Parliamentary Hearing Committee which was not yet formed due to some technical reasons. Therefore, the government appointed her as the acting Chief Justice.
Ms. Karki is yet to take oath of office and secrecy, acting spokesperson of the apex court Bishworaj Poudyal said.
Ms. Karki was appointed as one of the judges of the Supreme Court on temporary basis eight years ago. Prior to this, she had been serving in the legal sector in the capacity of a senior advocate. She became a permanent judge of the Supreme Court some six years ago.
She got her Bachelor’s degree in Law from Tribhuvan University in Nepal in 1978. She is also known for judgments allowing women to pass their citizenship to their children, previously open only to men in Nepal.
Last year in October, Bidhya Devi Bhandari was elected as Nepal’s first woman president. Also last year, lawmakers elected the country’s first woman Speaker of Parliament — UCPN-Maoist lawmaker Onsari Gharti Magar — following formation of a new government after promulgation of the Constitution.
