Speaker of the House of Representatives Subas Nemwang met with Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Poudel on Monday in order to resolve recent row that was triggered between the judiciary and the legislative after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recommended impeaching two judges of the Supreme Court (SC).

Nemwang held a brief meeting with CJ Poudel and judge Min Bahadur Rayamajhi. He is said to have assured them that the parliament will not proceed with impeachment action despite PAC move. He is said to have told them that the PAC had initiated the action during his absence. However, Nemwang declined to reveal the actual content of his discussion with the CJ.

Nemwang, who is a noted lawyer, was in foreign visit in past few days when the parliament’s PAC had decided to recommend (the House) to impeach two SC judges – Arjun Bahadur Singh and Badri Kumar Basnet – charging them of wrongdoing in the decision involving de-listing Mahalaxmi Sugar Mills from the bank loan defaulters’ blacklist.

A few days ago, a meeting of all judges of the apex court had asserted that no one had the authority of reviewing the decision made by the Supreme Court (SC). The meeting had authorized CJ Poudel and judge Rayamajhi to hold talks with House leaders over this issue.

On October 29, the PAC had decided to recommend to the parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against Basnet and Singh. According to 1990 Constitution, only the two-third majority of House of Representatives can impeach any Supreme Court judge. The two judges were charged of issuing a wrongful verdict when in January this year, a division bench comprising the two had issued the verdict revoking the earlier decision to blacklist the Mills.

This case was then taken up by the PAC after five major banks wrote a joint letter to the parliament in August demanding that Supreme Court (SC) judge duo Singh and Basnet be subjected to impeachment since their decision hampered in the recovery of loans. The banks claimed that the decision by the two judges ordering the withdrawal of Mahalaxmi Sugar Mills from the black list of willful defaulters was ‘intentional’ and caused losses to the tune of over Rs 1.38 billion.

The five banks and commercial institutions that wrote the letter include Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB), Nepal Bank Limited (NBL), Himalayan Bank, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Nepal Industrial Development Corporation (NIDC).

The Non Performing Loans of the banks have become one of the greatest problems of financial sector of the country at present. Officials have said that the total outstanding loans to banks stand at Rs 28.73 billion – almost one quarter of total annual budget.