Politics

Constitutional Bench allocates 30 mins to each lawyer for oral arguments on House dissolution case

Ruling from Chief Justice Rana on time limitation comes after lawyers started pleading for hours

KathmanduPati January 20, 2021

KATHMANDU – The Constitutional Bench has resumed its hearing on the House dissolution case. As advocates representing petitioners started taking a long time to make their pleas, Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana today fixed 30 minutes for each lawyer to present their oral arguments.

Lawyers representing petitioners had been pleading for over three to five hours. Concluding that the lengthy arguments from lawyers could delay the verdict, the Chief Justice decided to allocate 30 minutes to each lawyer for their pleading on the case.

The Constitutional Bench is conducting continuous hearings on 13 petitions filed to challenge the decision of the government to dissolve the House of Representatives on December 20.

Chief Justice Rana-led Constitutional Bench comprises Biswombhar Prasad Shrestha, Anil Kumar Sinha, Sapana Pradhan Malla and Tej Bahadur KC as members that will examine whether the government’s move to dissolve the House and set dates for midterm election is constitutional.