Kathmandu : The Supreme Court has upheld the Election Commission’s decision to grant official recognition to the faction of the Nepali Congress led by Gagan Thapa.
A joint bench of Justices Sharanga Subedi and Nripdhwaj Niraula on Friday ruled that the Commission’s decision to validate the party’s special general convention was lawful.
The verdict effectively rejects the demand of the Sher Bahadur Deuba faction, which had sought to deny legitimacy to the special convention.
The Election Commission had earlier recognized the committee led by Thapa, elected through the special general convention. Following this, Deuba and Purna Bahadur Khadka filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Magh 4, challenging the move.
The petition argued that the special general convention was незаконल (invalid) as it was convened in violation of the party’s statute and existing laws.
The petitioners claimed that the tenure of the executive committee elected from the 14th General Convention had already been extended until the end of Magh 2082, and that changing leadership midway through an allegedly unlawful convention contravened democratic norms and provisions of the party statute, including Articles 17, 27, and 43.
They also sought to overturn the Election Commission’s Magh 2 decision through a certiorari order, accusing the Commission of legitimizing an unlawful committee while ignoring the party statute and the Political
