On June 22, 2021, the Supreme Court has released an interim order on the writ filed against the expansion of the Council of Ministers. The Supreme Court has issued an interim order while hearing the writ petition filed by Senior Advocate Dr Dinesh Tripathi.
After the dissolution of the House of Representatives, 20 ministers in the government led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had resigned.
A joint bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Rana and Justice Prakash Kumar Dhungana issued the order to annul the expansion of the Cabinet. The writ petition is yet to receive a conclusion. The bench said Article 77(3) (1) of the Constitution clearly states that in the event of the Prime Minister’s post falling vacant, the same cabinet will continue till a new one is formed.
With the interim order, only four ministers are now remaining in the government. After the dissolution of the House of Representatives, Prime Minister Oli joined the government with the leaders of the UML-affiliated former Maoist group and the People Socialist Party Mahanta Thakur group.
Prime Minister Oli had expanded the Council of Ministers on May 31, 2021, after the dissolution of the House of Representatives. Twelve ministers, including the deputy prime minister, and two ministers of the province were sworn in on behalf of the Janata Samajwadi Party in the expanded cabinet.
Similarly, Prime Minister Oli had appointed eight ministers, including UML leader Khagraj Adhikari, on June 10.
Following the order, only Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel, Education Minister Krishna Gopal Shrestha, Law Minister Lilanath Shrestha and Physical Infrastructure Minister Basant Kumar Nemwang have been remained in the government along with Prime Minister Oli.
