भिडियो सहित हेर्नुहोस !

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Sushila Karki’s endorsement as the first female chief justice on July 10 by the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee (PHSC) and her assumption of office the following day were widely reported in the press. The reasons cited were mainly two—she is the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal, and the third woman to assume the high constitutional position after President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Speaker of the House Onsari Gharti Magar. Indeed, that is sufficient cause for Nepalis to feel happy and proud. But there is another underlying cause to make her appointment an important event not only in the legal history of Nepal, but also in the discussion of some complex issues. Karki boldly touched on those issues that were perhaps regarded as taboos. As a student of theory, I saw many more meanings in the defence and logic that she put forward to justify the appointment of Sapana Pradhan Malla as justice, for example. Three female justices including Mira Khadka taking up responsibilities put our position on a par with the most advanced democratic countries. Karki’s defensive dialogic presentation of the legal questions that encompassed diverse issues such as gender, fair justice and revivification of law was powerful.