Supreme Court nullifies appointment of Uddhav Thapa as Koshi CM

KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday nullified the appointment of Uddhav Thapa of the Nepali Congress (NC) as the Chief Minister of the Koshi Province.

A full bench of the apex court comprising Justices Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada, Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, and Til Prasad Shrestha annulled the appointment of Thapa as the Chief Minister and ordered to initiate new government formation in the Province within seven days.

The Supreme Court has declared the act of the Speaker of the Province Assembly signing in favor of appointing the Chief Minister unconstitutional.

Earlier on July 6, Nepali Congress leader Thapa had claimed the post of Koshi Province Chief Minister with the support of the Speaker of the Koshi Province Assembly Baburam Gautam. Following the support of 47 lawmakers including the Speaker, Koshi provincial head Parshuram Khapung had appointed Thapa as the chief minister.

Hikmat Karki, the parliamentary party leader of CPN-UML in the Koshi Province, had filed a writ at the apex court, stating that the Speaker’s support to claim the post of Chief Minister is against the constitution.