Kathmandu, April 13
The Supreme Court has cleared the decks for Nahakul Subedi, incumbent chief judge of the Surkhet High Court, to become a justice at the apex court.
In response to a writ petition that claimed Subedi did not have sufficient experience to become a Supreme Court justice, a single bench of Justice Tej Bahadur KC on Monday decided that Subedi meets the experience requirement by combining the time periods he served as a judicial service staffer at the gazetted first class and as a high court chief judge.
The constitution has it that a person serving the judicial service at the gazetted first class or above for 12 years or a person working as a judge at a high court for five years, among others, can become a justice at the apex court. However, claiming that Subedi has served neither the judicial service for 12 years nor the high court for five years, senior advocate Surendra Bhandari had filed the petition.
But, the bench of Justice KC said the position of chief judge at the high court can be taken as a position higher than the judicial service first-class staffer, hence the two experiences combined make Subedi eligible to get the position.
However, the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee is yet to hear the nomination. He will be appointed once the committee endorses his name.
