A hearing on a review petition filed by the Government against the 2015 Supreme Court ruling on transitional justice was postponed on June 6, again, making it the 22nd postponement since it was registered the same year, reports Kathmandu Post. It was the sixth postponement this year alone. A full bench comprising five judges led by Ananda Mohan Bhattarai was to decide whether to proceed with the hearing. It was the first case to be dealt with by a five-member bench. However, it decided not to proceed with the case after Judge Hari Prasad Phuyal, who had defended the case on behalf of the victims as an advocate four years ago, couldn’t hear it.
In February 2015, the apex court had issued a landmark ruling ordering the Government to revise the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act-2014. The court ruled that the law failed to adhere to the principles of transitional justice and international practices. But in April that year, then Government led by Sushil Koirala filed a review petition, challenging the ruling that was issued by a special bench led by then chief justice Kalyan Shrestha. Then chief secretary Leela Mani Paudyal had filed the petition through the Office of the Attorney General. Conflict victims, who have been awaiting justice for more than a decade, have been demanding that the government withdraw the petition and amend the Act as per the top court’s ruling and Nepal’s international obligations. The continuous deferral, victims say, could delay the entire transitional justice process.