The High Court of Biratnagar has halted the decision of Gramthan Rural Municipality’s Chairperson, Namonarayen Majhi, to assign acting authority to Ward Chairperson Ramesh Kumar Bhagat. The bench of Judge Dhrubaraj Nanda issued the interim order on April 10. A day earlier, on April 9, Vice-Chairperson Gunawati Devi Tharu had filed a writ petition at the High Court, stating that Chairperson Majhi left for a visit to China on April 7 after handing over the acting role, despite her presence in the office.
The High Court issued an interim order on April 10, directing authorities not to implement the decision to assign acting responsibility to Ramesh Kumar Bhagat, Ward Chairperson of Gramthan Rural Municipality-3, as requested by Vice-Chairperson Gunawati Devi Tharu. As Chairperson Majhi left for a nine-day visit to China, he assigned the responsibility of Acting Chairperson to the Ward Chairperson. However, the Local Government Operation Act includes a provision that the Acting Chairperson’s responsibility must be given to the Vice-Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson. Vice-Chairperson Gunawati Devi Tharu has accused the Chairperson of not assigning her the acting responsibility, claiming that she did not officially bid farewell to the Chairperson before departing for the visit.
