Supreme Court Issues Interim Order Against Use of English Script on Embossed Number Plates

The Supreme Court has issued an interim order directing authorities not to use the English language on embossed number plates installed on vehicles.

A division bench of Justices Mahesh Sharma Paudel and Kumar Regmi issued the order on Sunday. The interim ruling comes in response to a writ petition filed by advocate Ram Bahadur Raut, naming the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Finance, and the Department of Transport Management as defendants.

Following the court's order, a previous decision allowing the use of only English lnguage—displacing the Devanagari script—cannot be implemented. Advocate Raut stated that the interim order mandates the mandatory use of Nepali letters and numerals in the Devanagari script on number plates.

He claimed that the order reaffirms the constitutional right for all vehicles in Nepal to display Nepali identity through the use of the Devanagari script.