March 23, 2023
Kathmandu. The Bill on the Constitutional Council, which recommends the appointment of heads and officers, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, etc. to the constitutional bodies, has been presented in the Parliament almost 1 month after its registration. Information and Communication Technology Minister Rekha Sharma presented this bill in the House of Representatives on last Chaitra 5.
In the House of Representatives on Falgun 12, the government registered a bill to amend the Constitutional Council (Works, Duties, Rights and Procedures) Act, 2066. Article 284 of the Constitution stipulates that the Constitutional Council will be chaired by the Prime Minister. Based on the same arrangement, this law, which was created by the Parliament in the year 2066, has been re-registered in the Parliament for amendment. In the Constitutional Council, there is a provision that the Prime Minister will be the chairman, while the other 5 members will be there.
Although the Bill has been presented in the Parliament, the Committee has not been formed to go to the Parliamentary Committee for quarterly discussion, and due to the delay in amending the Act, the recommendation for the appointment of the Chief Justice in the Supreme Court has not been made.
The government has registered this bill for some amendments in the provision in section 6 of the original law. Earlier, former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli amended the law on Constitutional Council three times through ordinances and made it favorable to his interests. He brought an ordinance related to the Constitutional Council for the first time on 8th Baisakh 2077, and on 30th Mangsir 2077 and 21st Baisakh 2078, he again issued ordinances of the same nature and appointed officials in various constitutional bodies. He has amended the provision that the meeting can be held only if the chairman and at least four members are present by removing the sub-sections 6 and 7 in the main section of the Act and maintaining the sub-section 5 and provided that the meeting can be held as a quorum if the chairman and the majority of the existing members were present.
Also, if there is no consensus for the decision, it was arranged that a decision can be made based on the majority of the members present. In which, when 3 people were present, Oli made it possible to appoint officials in the constitutional bodies by reaching a majority of 2 people, and appointed officials of his own liking in other constitutional bodies including the Authority.
On the other hand, former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, in the first amendment bill of the Act registered in the National Assembly on last Asadh 22, provided that ‘in the event that there is no consensus on any matter, a decision can be made by the majority of the chairman and at least 50% of the members currently in office’.
This arrangement was opposed at that time, and the previous House of Representatives was active throughout the month of Bhadra, so the amendment bill could not be moved due to lack of time.
In the amendment bill introduced by the current government, some progressive provisions have been put in place compared to the provisions put in place by the previous government. In Section 6, Sub-Section 5 of the current Amendment Bill, it is stipulated that all the members who are in office immediately must be present at the meeting of the Council, while in Sub-Section 6, it is stipulated that the decision of each subject presented in the meeting of the Council must be based on consensus. Which is more progressive than the provisions in the ordinance brought by Oli.
Similarly, in sub-section 7, if all the members are not present at the meeting of the council according to sub-section 5 or if consensus cannot be reached on any matter according to sub-section 6, the chairman can call another meeting to discuss and decide on the agenda of the meeting. Oli also removed the provision of calling another meeting if there is no unanimous decision in the original law.
In sub-section 9 of the bill, if at least fifty percent of the members present at the meeting as per sub-section 7 are present, the quorum for the meeting of the council is deemed to be reached. A provision has been made that the decision will be made by the majority of percentage members.
Due to the fact that thematic committees under the House of Representatives have not been formed, it will take time to pass this bill. The impact of which has affected the appointment of officials in constitutional bodies including the Supreme Court.
