Chief of Justice Violating national and international codes. Here is an report from Kantipuronline.
DB
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=113519
CJ flouts code of conduct
By Kiran Chapagain
KATHMANDU, June 22 - Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel has frequently met the parties to sub judice cases at his official residence at Baluwatar, in violation of national and international codes of conduct for judges.
Evidence obtained by The Kathmandu Post shows that the Chief Justice welcomed President of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Rabindra Nath Sharma, twice at his official quarters ahead of Special Court hearings in two cases concerning Sharma. The court gave a clean chit to Sharma on Wednesday.
"Yes I met him. I had asked for an appointment and he complied," Rabindra Nath Sharma said. When inquired about details, he responded, "Why are you asking me that?"
The evidence shows that the Chief Justice first received Sharma on March 6, three weeks ahead of a hearing in Sharma's case at the Special Court. The hearing was on March 28. The next meeting occurred on May 12, eight days before the final hearing in the Special Court case. Coincidently, the Chief Justice met Bhoop Dhoj Adhikari, chairman of the Special Court, at his residence two days after the meeting with Sharma.
Besides Sharma, the CJ also welcomed former minister Khum Bahadur Khadka and former Deputy Inspector General of Police Kumar Koirala at his official residence. Khadka and Koirala are facing cases at the Supreme Court. The evidence shows that Koirala met the Chief Justice on March 9, two days ahead of the hearing in his case.
The National Code of Conduct for Judges,1998 and the internationally accepted Bangalore Principles on Judicial Conduct 2002, guidelines intended to establish standards for the ethical conduct of judges, say that a judge should not meet parties to cases being considered in court.
The 19-point national code of conduct, endorsed by a national conference of judges in 1998, states under point number 14 that judges should not have any "dealing" with the parties to cases. "Dealing" also means meeting, says former Supreme Court justice Laxman Prasad Aryal, one of the architects of the code.
The Bangalore Principle is even more explicit on the issue. It says, "A judge shall not allow the use of the judge's residence by a member of the legal profession to receive clients or other members of the legal profession."
When asked whether a sitting Chief Justice can meet parties to sub judice cases, Kedar Nath Upadhyay, former chief justice of the Supreme Court, said "No."
Similarly, Judicial Council member Moti Kaji Sthapith said, "Generally speaking, a judge should not meet litigants if he knows the case is pending in court."
Likewise, lawyer-turned Speaker Subash Nembang said a judge should not meet the parties to cases. "Nowhere in the world do judges meet the parties to cases."
The existing laws are, however, silent about punishment of judges who breach the code of conduct. "It is a moral question. And the Judicial Council should take up this issue," said Aryal.
The Post's repeated attempts to get a comment from the Chief Justice failed. When it contacted his office at the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice's personal secretary, Surya Parajuli, said that the CJ didn't want to respond to queries.
Whom did CJ meet at his residence?
Name Date Time
Rabindra Nath Sharma March 6 7:20 pm
Rabindra Nath Sharma May 12 7:10 pm
Khum Bahadur Khadka April 7 4:57pm
Kumar Koirala March 9 8:20 pm
Posted on: 2007-06-21 21:31:18 (Server Time)
