By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, July 10: The Office of the President has furnished a six-point written response to the Supreme Court (SC) in relation to the writ petitions filed against the office for expanding the cabinet.
The written response was submitted to the SC via Office of the Attorney General.
In the response, the President’s Office has clarified that the cabinet was expanded as per Article 66 (2) on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. “Except otherwise provided in the Constitution, all the functions of the President is carried out on the basis of the recommendation of the Council of Ministers,” read the written response. “As the President had expanded the cabinet on June 4 on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, as provisioned by the Constitution, the demands of the writ petitioners should be rejected.”
Moreover, stating that the case could not be filed against the works done by the President in line with Article 61 (2) of the Constitution, the Office of the President claimed that the writ petition was not filed constitutionally and thus, it must be voided by the Supreme Court.
Prior to this on June 22, the SC had issued an interim order preventing 20 ministers appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli from carrying out their ministerial responsibilities.