Contempt of Court Petition Filed Against PM Karki

A contempt of court petition has been filed at the Supreme Court against Prime Minister Sushila Karki for defying an interim order that barred the government from immediately enforcing its decision to recall Nepal’s ambassadors from 11 countries.

Advocate Prem Silwal lodged the petition on Monday, November 17. The case has been scheduled for hearing on November 23, Supreme Court spokesperson Arjun Prasad Koirala told the state-owned RSS news agency.

[Read: Govt Defies SC’s Interim Order on Ambassador Recall]

The Cabinet had decided on October 16 to recall the ambassadors by November 6. A writ petition was later filed at the Supreme Court challenging the legality of the move. After a preliminary hearing, the court on November 2 issued an interim order directing the government not to implement the decision until the case was resolved.

Despite the order, the government sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instructing it to bring the ambassadors back and assign them duties within the ministry.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Paudel Chhetri earlier confirmed to RSS that the ministry had received the letter on November 3, directing it to summon the recalled envoys.

(With inputs from RSS)