KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that the writ petition seeking the annulment of the Constitutional Council Ordinance be forwarded to the Constitutional Bench.

At the same time, the court upheld the Supreme Court administration’s refusal to register a separate writ petition regarding the nomination of the Chief Justice.

A single bench of Judge Meghraj Pokharel, during the preliminary hearing, ordered that the writ petition—which the Supreme Court administration had previously refused to register—be sent to the Constitutional Bench.

Advocate Gita Thapa had filed the petition demanding the repeal of the ordinance, arguing that the recommendation to appoint the Chief Justice from the fourth position of seniority in the Supreme Court was based on that very ordinance.

In accordance with the Constitutional Council’s decision, Manoj Kumar Sharma, who held the fourth position in seniority, has already been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

As soon as Sharma was recommended in violation of standard seniority practices, a writ petition was brought to the Supreme Court for registration. However, the Supreme Court administration withheld the petition for 10 days by issuing a refusal-to-register order.

The writ petitions were only formally registered after the Chief Justice’s appointment had already been finalized.

The Supreme Court upheld the administration’s refusal-to-register order regarding the petition that sought to overturn Sharma’s nomination as Chief Justice, ruling that the issue has now lost its relevance.

The court ordered that the refusal-to-register order will remain in effect for the writ petitions filed by Senior Advocate Dinesh Tripathi and Advocate Prem Raj Silwal.