15th March, 2018
Nepal has sacked its controversial chief justice Gopal Parajuli following accusation that he faked his date of birth to remain in office, officials said Thursday.
According to media reports, Parajuli apparently turned 65 several months ago.
Parajuli, who succeeded Nepal’s first female chief justice eight month ago, accused the country’s leading newspaper of contempt of court in February after the daily published a report detailing a birth date discrepancy in his academic records.
“Deepak Raj Joshee, the most senior judge on the court, assumed the position of acting chief justice on Thursday,’’ Kishor Paudel, an official at the Supreme Court, said.
“We received the letter from the secretary of the Judicial Council,a constitutional body, on Wednesday.
“We have already implemented the decision to remove Parajuli from the post,” Paudel said.
On Wednesday, Parajuli administered an oath of office to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, who was re-elected for a second term earlier this week.
Under Nepalese law, the chief justice should retire at the age of 65.