KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court has postponed its highly anticipated verdict on the controversial appointment of 52 officials to various constitutional bodies, including the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).

The court administration has announced that the verdict will now be delivered on Asar 18 (July 2).

The verdict was originally scheduled for today (Wednesday), following the completion of final hearings on May 15.

The case had been under review by the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench, which began continuous hearings on February 12.

The bench comprises Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut and Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Manoj Kumar Sharma, Kumar Chudal, and Nahakul Subedi.

The court had directed the parties involved to submit their written arguments by May 30.

The appointments in question were made during the tenure of then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in December 2020 and May 2021 through an ordinance, bypassing the usual parliamentary procedures.

These 52 appointments filled key posts across several constitutional bodies, raising concerns over the legitimacy of the process.

Senior Advocate Dinesh Tripathi, Advocate Om Prakash Aryal, and others had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court, arguing that the appointments were unconstitutional.

They pointed out that the Constitutional Council meeting that made the decisions was held in the absence of the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Agni Prasad Sapkota, and the then leader of the opposition, Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Only Prime Minister Oli, the then Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana, and the then National Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina were present.