Nepal's chief justice suspended after facing impeachment motion

Chief Justice at the Nepal Supreme Court Sushila Karki was suspended from her duty on Sunday after the ruling party lodged an impeachment motion against her at the Parliament.

The chief justice was accused of interfering in government's decisions through verdicts.

Altogether 259 parliamentarians from the ruling parties Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre) moved the House against Karki, Min Bahadur Biswakarma, a parliamentarian from the ruling Nepali Congress party, told the media.

"The chief justice interfered with the executive including in the appointment of Nepal Police's chief, and failed to fulfill her duties in judiciary effectively," Biswakarma said.

A month ago, a full bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Karki, had issued a verdict scrapping the government's decision to appoint Jay Bahadur Chand as the Nepal police chief - calling it arbitrary, flawed, unjust. Following the verdict, the ruling parties had accused the supreme court and the chief justice for interfering the rights of government.

Karki, 64, started her stint as the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court in April 2016.

This is the first time in the Himalayan country that a serving chief justice is facing an impeachment motion, observers said.

"With the registration of this motion, Karki has been automatically barred from working in her capacity as the chief of the apex court until the issue is duly resolved by the Parliament," a senior official at the Nepal's Parliament told Xinhua.

The Parliament Secretariat has written a letter to President Bidya Devi Bhandari regarding the impeachment motion on Sunday. Enditem