There is dispute between the lawmakers and legal experts on Wednesday’s meeting of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee held to examine the reasons for the Supreme Court verdict on Mahalaxmi Sugar Mills bank loan defaulting case.

The Members of parliament (MPs) said they would investigate the issue, as the verdict violated the rule of law and lacked public accountability, while the lawyers warned them not to interfere in the independence of judiciary.

The lawyers advised the MPs to initiate impeachment process against the particular judge if they found any judge involved in any irregularity, reports said.

The president of the Nepal Bar Association, Shambhu Thapa, said the PAC action was an attack on the independence of the judiciary. He challenged the MPs to promulgate a separate act with a provision to review SC verdicts by the House.

MPs, on the other hand, say the verdict was a hurdle in recovering Rs 1.38 billion bank loan from the Mills.

In January, a division bench of Justices Arjun Prasad Singh and Badri Kumar Basnet had issued the verdict scrapping the decision to blacklist the Mills owned by businessman Binod Kumar Chaudhary.

PAC Chairman Chitra Bahadur KC said they would even initiate action against judges involved in irregularities.

MPs Ishwor Pokhrel and Mohan Bahadur Basnet said though they did not want to attack the independence of the judiciary, they wanted to know what actually happened in the case.

Meanwhile, submitting a statement before the PAC Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Bijay Nath Bhattarai argued that the SC order removing certain business houses from the bank defaulter blacklist would have a long-term impact on the economy and financial system of the country.