The Supreme Court of Nepal is scheduled to hold a hearing today on a supplementary petition calling for the restoration of the House of Representatives. The petition carries the signatures of 65 former lawmakers from the Nepali Congress, along with three former lawmakers from other political parties.
The case will be heard by a Constitutional Bench headed by Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut. The bench also includes senior-most Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla and Justices Hari Prasad Phuyal, Manoj Kumar Sharma, and Nahakul Subedi.
Of the 87 former lawmakers from the Nepali Congress, 65 signed the supplementary petition, which was registered at the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The signatures were submitted through former Attorney General Khammabahadur Khati.
Earlier, eight former lawmakers—including Chief Whip of the dissolved Nepali Congress parliamentary party Shyam Kumar Ghimire and Whip Sushila Thing—had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Mangsir 23. In response, the court issued a show-cause order.
Support for the House restoration has also come from outside the Nepali Congress. Former independent lawmaker Yogendra Mandal, along with one former lawmaker each from the Janata Samajwadi Party and the Janamat Party, has signed the petition.
Separately, CPN-UML Chief Whip Mahesh Bartaula and Whip Sunita Baral have filed writ petitions at the Supreme Court. Other former UML lawmakers have also submitted signatures in support of restoring the House of Representatives.
With former lawmakers from multiple political parties backing the demand, the total number of signatories supporting the House restoration has now reached 143.
