Kathmandu: Eight top officers of the
Nepal Army have withdrawn a writ filed in the Supreme Court
against the decision of the former Maoists` government to
force them into retirement.
The senior officers had approached the court after the
government led by Prachanda had rejected the Army headquarters
decision to extend the tenure of eight retired generals as per
practices. They had sought extension of their terms.
They withdrew the writ petition yesterday since the
22-party coalition led by Madhav Kumar Nepal overturned the
Maoists decision to retire them. The court consented to the
withdrawal of the petition, according to Army sources.
The decision comes after the officers appraised the
apex court of the new scenario following change in the
government in May, which led to overturning of the Maoist
government`s decision.
"Since the government has already extended the terms
of the eight Army Generals for the next two years, it renders
their writ useless," according to a court official.
The eight officers -- Nara Bahadur Kandel, Nara
Bahadur Rawal, Kumar Budathoki, Pawan Bahadur Pandey, Pradip
Bikram Rana, Shiva Kumar Poudel, Ramesh Bista and Raju Pratap
KC -- had jointly filed a writ on March 23 demanding a stay
order on the government`s March 18 decision to pension them
off.
The Nepal Maoists, who waged a decade-long insurgency,
joined mainstream politics after a 2006 peace deal with the
interim government led by GP Koirala.
The Prachanda-led government had been on a collision
course with Army, which had fought a decade-long civil war
with the Maoists. Prachanda had blamed former army chief
gen Rukmangad Katawal for trying to resist the integration of
former rebels into the military as stipulated under the 2006
peace agreement.
The Maoists have been blocking Parliament and
organising series of protest rallies in the capital since
Prachanda resigned on May 4 after President Ram Baran Yadav
reinstated General Katawal, who was dismissed by the
government-led by the former rebels.
The political standoff has put new stresses on Nepal`s
reconciliation efforts, fuelling fears that the stalled peace
process may be derailed if the constitutional crisis is not
ended soon.
Bureau Report
