One of the four Justices of the Supreme Court, who had removed the Mahalaxmi Sugar Mill and one of the operators of the Mill Binod Kumar Chaudhari from the list of bank defaulters, Badri Kumar Basnet, has said that he was proud of his verdict on the case. He retired from his job on Wednesday due to age bar.
Speaking at a function organised by the Supreme Court to bid him farewell, Basnet said, “Nobody had pointed out finger at me during my 39-year-long service in the Judiciary, but I faced such a bitter experience prior to my retirement,” he said, adding, “I am proud of my verdict.”
Stating that he contributed for the promotion and protection of human rights while in office, Basnet accused the media persons and lawyers of dragging him into controversy, according to reports.
The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had recommended the House of Representatives to impeach him, along with other Justices involved in the verdict saying that the verdict had created obstacle for recovering the bad debts of Banks. However the full court meeting of the Supreme Court opposed the decision of the PAC and decided to write to Speaker of the House of Representatives to clarify the PAC’s decision.
Arjun Prasad Singh, another Justice involved in controversy, retired four months ago.
A division bench of Justices Basnet and Singh de-listed Mahalaxmi Sugar Mill from black list. Justices Kedar Prasad Giri and Top Bahadur Magar had upheld the initial verdict passed by Singh and Basnet.
Five Banks and Financial institutions moved to the Parliament demanding impeachment motion against Justices involved in the case, alleging that the verdict was not fair and it will hamper recovery of bad loans.
“The practice of reviewing Supreme Court verdicts by a parliamentary committee does not give any good message about the Judiciary’s independence,” The Himalayan Times daily quoted Basnet as saying.
Stating that Parliament is not the proper body to review apex court verdicts, the retiring apex court Justice said, “If there is anything wrong with the verdict, it should be corrected by the apex court itself.”
Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Paudel, other justices and court officials attended the farewell programme.