The Supreme Court has issued an order to seek the decision of the Judicial Council to appoint High Court Judge Lekhnath Dhakal. It may be noted that Judge Dhakal has been charged of taking bribe from a service seeker.
A single bench of Justice Bam Kumar Shrestha handed down the order today, seeking the decision of the Council to appoint Dhaka as the judge of the high court. He has been charged of taking Rs. 1.8 million in bribe from a service seeker.
According to the Spokesperson at the Supreme Court, the order also directs the JC to clarify the basis and rationale behind the appointment of Dhakal, who was alleged of bribery. The JC had decided to appoint then district judge Dhakal the high court judge on May 28. A complaint had been registered against Dhakal at the JC itself, accusing him of taking bribe in his capacity as the district judge.
Umesh Baniya of Kavre district had filed a writ at the Supreme Court against Dhakal alleging the latter of taking bribe from him. Earlier, the Supreme Court Administration had denied registering the writ and Baniya filed an application at the bench. The bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla had ordered the administration to register the writ.
Reproduced from People’s News Monitoring Service
