Prime Minister Balen Shah Defends Attorney General Appointment in Supreme Court Response

Kathmandu. Prime Minister Balendra Shah (Balen) has submitted a written response to the Supreme Court stating that the authority to appoint the Attorney General rests with him. He sent the response mentioning that the appointment of Attorney General Dr. Narayan Prasad Kandel was constitutional.

Responding to the writ filed by advocate Madhav Kumar Basnet, the Prime Minister claimed that the selection of the Attorney General is his 'executive prerogative'. The petitioner had claimed that Dr. Kandel's actual advocacy period was only about three years and that he did not meet the qualification of 15 years of continuous advocacy as he had stayed abroad for a long time. Countering that, the Prime Minister said, 'Continuous advocacy means not only the time physically spent in court but also the state of being active in the field of law while the advocate's certificate remains valid.'