The Supreme Court is unwilling to accept the Parliamentary Secretary General’s letter that dubbed the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana as Niskriya — ‘not valid any more’. The letter had come in the wake of Rana’s suspension from the post, following the registration of the impeachment motion in February. The impeachment, however, could not be completed as the House of Representative's (HoR) tenure came to an end in September. With today’s developments, the Nepalese Apex Court and Parliament trudge towards the crossroads again. As he was to join his duties on Wednesday, CJ Rana’s move was thwarted by the court, which sought further clarification on the letter. The co-registrar of the SC wrote to the Secretary General of the House, asking if the motion was likely to be reintroduced. The Secretary General, however, would not be able to respond to the query immediately — since the new House will take two more weeks for its constitution after the general elections. There is no provision to carry forward such motions, after the demise of the House that had introduced them. Rana had declared he would attend the court after the House tenure came to its end. However, the government put him under 'undeclared’ house arrest. The parliament secretariat, endorsing Rana’s side, wrote to him that the motion had lost its validity since the tenure of the HoR, in which Rana took his exemption, had ended. Rana is due to retire on December 14 on age grounds.
