Kathmandu, July 5: The main opposition, the Nepali Congress (NC), has decided to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court against provisions in the House of Representatives (HoR) Rules of Procedure that it says violate the Constitution by granting the rules overriding legal authority.
Party president Gagan Thapa and other senior leaders held discussions with legal experts on Friday over the petition. Following the meeting, the party assigned lawyers to prepare the writ. NC General Secretary Pradeep Paudel confirmed the decision.
“We have already consulted legal experts. The writ is being prepared,” Paudel said. “We will file it in the Supreme Court within this week.”
The House of Representatives endorsed the new rules on May 21. During the debate, the Congress had argued that the draft should have been referred to a parliamentary committee for further discussion after the legislative process had advanced.
Despite objections from the Congress and other opposition parties, including the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal approved the rules.
Why is Congress objecting?
The party has raised constitutional concerns over Rules 140 and 259. Rule 140 lays out the procedure for constitutional amendments. Nepal has amended its Constitution twice, with both amendments approved separately by a two thirds majority in the House of Representatives and the National Assembly.
The new rules, however, authorize the Speaker to determine whether a constitutional amendment has secured a combined two thirds majority of the total current membership of both houses. The Congress argues that this goes beyond the Constitution and unlawfully gives the Speaker authority to calculate the combined vote.
The party has also objected to provisions governing the suspension of lawmakers facing criminal charges.
Under Rule 247, an MP will be suspended only if they are in pretrial detention on charges carrying a sentence of more than three years or involving crimes of moral turpitude. This means lawmakers charged with serious offences, including corruption, money laundering and human trafficking, will not be suspended merely because they have been indicted. They will continue to serve unless a court orders them into judicial custody pending trial.
The Congress argues that Rule 259 effectively overrides other laws by giving the Speaker exclusive authority to interpret the parliamentary rules, making them operate as a special legal regime for lawmakers. According to the party, this improperly elevates the Rules of Procedure above existing laws. The planned writ petition will focus on these two issues.
Congress to unveil constitutional amendment position
The Congress is also preparing to release its official position on constitutional amendment later this week.
The party has not nominated a representative to the constitutional amendment task force led by Prime Minister’s political adviser Asim Shah.
Instead, it has formed its own study panel, headed by Vice President Pushpa Bhusal, which is expected to present the party’s proposals on constitutional reform this week.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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