NC Infighting Resurfaces In Court

With the Supreme Court’s decision to review petitions regarding the official status of the Nepali Congress (NC), the raging conflict within the NC has taken a new turn. Once on the defensive, the anti-establishment faction has now become emboldened after a full bench of Chief Justice Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma and Justices Nitya Nand Pandey and Shree Kant Paudel last Thursday allowed a fresh hearing on the legitimacy of NC's leadership. Former president Sher Bahadur Deuba and vice-president Purna Bahadur Khadka filed the petitions, seeking the SC’s permission to review its decision to recognise the Gagan Thapa-led faction as the legitimate party. However, this does not mean that the SC will overturn the legitimacy of NC’s Special Convention that elected the then party general secretary Thapa as new president in January this year. The SC will examine the legal basis of the earlier decision and give a final verdict on the party’s official status.