Kathmandu- A single bench comprising all 19 sitting judges of the Supreme Court is set to convene on Sunday. The full bench, led by Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut, is expected to deliberate on procedural timelines affected after court files were destroyed in a fire on Bhadra 24.
Earlier, it had been decided that the period up to mid-Mangsir could be treated as zero time due to the loss of files. However, the Supreme Court has now provided a 60-day window—covering Mangsir and Poush—for the submission and recovery of court documents.
The full bench is likely to issue an order declaring this period as zero time for the purpose of calculating hearing deadlines and adjournments. A report prepared by the Supreme Court administration on this matter has already been submitted to the bench.
Once a formal decision is taken, any hearing dates falling within this period will not be considered expired for procedural purposes.
Along with Chief Justice Raut, the bench includes Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Phuyal, Manoj Kumar Sharma, Nahakul Subedi, Til Prasad Shrestha, Binod Sharma, Sharanga Subedi, Abdul Aziz Musalman, Mahesh Sharma Poudel, Tek Prasad Dhungana, Sunil Kumar Pokharel, Bal Krishna Dhakal, Nripadhwaj Niraula, Nityanand Pandey, Meghraj Pokharel, Shrikant Poudel, and Shantisingh Thapa.
At present, these 19 judges constitute the full strength of the Supreme Court.
