SC overturns ‘short-term’ interim order, clears the way for execution of Citizenship Bill

Kathmandu, 22 June: The Supreme Court today dismissed the short-term interim order on the Citizenship Bill removing the hurdle towards its immediate implementation.

A Division bench of the apex court comprising Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai and Kumar Regmi overturned the stay order which justice Manoj Kumar Sharma had issued on June 4

Senior Advocates Surendra Bhandari and Balakrusha Neupane had filed a writ petition claiming that the President’s move to put a seal of approval to the citizenship bill that originated in the previous parliament was unconstitutional.

President Ram Chandra Poudel had approved the citizenship bill on May 31a couple of hours before Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s (Prachanda) departure to Delhi on an official visit.

Bidhya Bhandari, as the president had first sent the bill to parliament for reconsideration and then sat over it when it was sent to her again ‘as it is’. The House of Representatives as well as president Bhandari’s term came to an end as the controversy over the bill continued.

The legal fraternity was divided on the legality of the bill, with the opposing side claiming that with the demise of the previous House, the bill automatically became infructuous and its approval by the president was illegal.