Man convicted for attempt on CJ’s life

The News is quite straight. I have taken this news from Kantipur which has reported this news here. It seems that  the accused is not satisfied with the judgment and they have of course recourse to arrroach Appellate Court.

Kathmandu District Court on Sunday convicted one Prabhat Kumar Gupta of Birgunj on the charge of attempting to murder Chief Justice Kedar Prasad Giri.

Judge Shiva Narayan Yadav announced five years imprisonment for Gupta who “attacked” Giri with a knife at the latter’s residence at Ghattekulo on November 30, 2006. Giri, the senior most Justice then, survived the attack but sustained an injury on the thumb of his right hand.

But Gupta, in a statement to the parliament last September, had maintained that he entered the premises of Giri’s house to bribe him in a land related case. He further argued that Giri sustained injuries in a skirmish that followed after the former tried to record the conversation between him and Giri.

It may be recalled that the controversial Gupta case had featured prominently when Giri faced the parliamentary confirmation hearing for being nominated as Chief Justice in September last year. Parliamentarians had then questioned during the hearing whether Gupta would get justice after he became the Chief Justice. Giri had evaded the question saying that he would not comment on the case since it was being considered in the district court.

Gupta had staged fast-on-to-death, protesting Giri’s nomination as Chief Justice and demanded that  parliament disapprove his nomination.

Gupta’s lawyer Kedar Karki questioned the impartiality of the verdict today while announcing he would appeal against the verdict at the appellate court.

The Truth is Judiciary not Independent

The Judiciary of Nepal is not independent, is not effective and is not functioning properly. This is the truth with which all common Nepalese People were aware from long time. Now, it seems that even our judiciary has realised this fact, though bit late.

Kantipur reports here about this news. We just to hope to see effective judiciary in this country to make Democracy and Justice viable in Nepal.

The Supreme Court, while identifying its problems, has said the judiciary has not been independent, competent and effective at par with international standard.
The judiciary has not been as independent, competent and effective as it should be as per the principle of separation of power and universally accepted values,” the Supreme Court stated in its annual report made public on Sunday.
It further said the judiciary has been facing serious challenges in establishing a justice system as envisioned in the constitution.
The court, however, has not stated the reasons that have made the judiciary such a weak institution. But, it may be recalled that the judiciary has long been complaining against constitutional provisions requiring judges to face parliament before appointment and requiring the judiciary to present its report to the Prime Minister, who is head of the executive. Judges have maintained that the provisions have undermined the very principle of judicial independence.

Besides, the apex court has also complained that the judiciary has not featured in the national plan of the country with priority.

According to the report, there are 52,098 backlogs in all courts across the country. In the Supreme Court alone, there are 13,476 pending cases whereas the figure at the district courts is 30,819. Similarly, the backlogs at the appellate courts is 7,803.