Former president of NC expresses full trust in court

Kathmandu: Former president of the Nepali Congress (NC) and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba reminded that he had the experience of getting justice from the judiciary and he has full trust in it this time too.

In his address to the concluding session of the three-day national gathering of the anti-establishment faction of NC here today, leader Deuba said, “When I was in custody during the monarchy, I was granted justice by the judiciary with the dismissal of the then Shahi Commission. Now, the matter of party’s legitimacy is in the Supreme Court, and we are hopeful of justice again” he said.

“I had advised the party not opting for the special general convention because it could split the party,” Deuba added. On a different note, he said he is a Hindu follower and follows Hindu customs, adding that none should be deprived of observing Hinduism.

“I have equal respect to the Buddhism, other religions and natural beliefs.” The senior leader said he had great support and goodwill from the party leaders and cadres and he will always remain indebted to such support.

Deuba returned home on Thursday following treatment for five months abroad. The party’s former general secretary and gathering coordinator Dr Shashanka Koirala said the gathering was organised to unite the party, providing an opportunity for a larger number of party cadres for the meeting.

Meanwhile, the gathering endorsed five reports. It also passed various proposals on the preparations for 15th general convention, freedom on following the Sanatan religion, and contemporary amendments to the constitution.

The event that had kicked off on Friday was addressed by party leaders Bimalendra Nidhi, Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, NP Saud, Ramesh Lekhak and Umakanta Chaudhary, who presented political, economic contemporary, legal, statute and organistional proposals.

The NC special general convention held on January 11-14 elected a new working committee under the leadership of then general secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa. The Deuba faction then refused to participate in the special convention, arguing it was invalid.

The faction went to filing a complaint to the Election Commission against Thapa’s leadership. The dissident faction had knocked Supreme Court (SC) after Election Commission recognized the working committee of NC elected from the special general convention.

SC, which had initially recognized EC’s decision, later nodded for review of party legitimacy case in response to dissidents’ appeal. On August 6, SC decided to conduct a review on the case over NC leadership legitimacy.

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