Kathmandu, March 1
The Supreme Court has given continuity to its stay on the appointment of DIG Jaya Bahadur Chand as Nepal Police’s Inspector General.
Deliberations over the case filed by Nawaraj Silwal, another aspirant for the job, have concluded, and the court was expected to pass a verdict today. This means that Chand’s appointment cannot go ahead, at least for now.
Silwal had moved the Supreme Court the same day Chand was appointed to the post, and the court had issued a stay on Chand’s appointment within a few hours.
Chand’s appointment had drawn fire from several quarters for undermining issues like seniority. Hours after the government decision (the government had made this decision on Sunday morning), a single bench of Chief Justice Sushila Karki told the government not to implement it.
The government decided to appoint DIG Jaya Bahadur Chand as the new police chief on February 12, just three days after a Cabinet meeting was put off following a dispute in the ruling coalition.
Chand was to succeed IGP Upendrakanta Aryal, who has already retired. While Prime Minister Prachanda was in favour of the senior-most DIG Navaraj Silwal, Nepali Congress chief wanted Chand, the third senior-most officer in the ranks to be appointed to the post.
According to a source, Deuba had instructed Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi to tender his resignation if the Prime Minister did not yield to his demand. The Prime Minister had reportedly suggested that the second senior-most Prakash Aryal could be a compromise candidate for the job. Deuba, however, was adamant that Chand, who hails from Far-west Nepal (the NC chief’s constituency) be named Aryal’s successor.
Deuba has, however, said he has no role to play in the appointment of IGP.
