Supreme Court stops Maoist Centre’s lawsuit against provincial MP Devkota

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the CPN (Maoist Centre)’s decision to take action against Gandaki Provincial Assembly member Phanindra Devkota.

A single-judge bench headed by Prakash Man Singh Raut issued an order allowing Devkota to continue his work as a legislator.

“Official documents show that Devkota is associated with the Nepal Samajbadi Party. It does not appear that the complainant has left the said party nor does he appear to have been expelled from the party. The action of the CPN (Maoist Centre), the party with which Devkota is not associated, is not justified under the constitutional and legal provisions,” the court said in its verdict.

“The defendants were served with an interim injunction not to file the lawsuit until a final judgment is made, as the plaintiff is likely to suffer irreparable harm if he is unable to perform his function as a representative of the people.”

Devkota, a minister in Gandaki province, was removed from his post as a member of the Gandaki provincial assembly on June 14. Speaker Krishna Prasad Dhital removed him from his post as a member of parliament on the recommendation of the CPN (Maoist Centre), which had decided to take action after accusing him of violating party discipline.

Devkota, a leader of the Nepal Samajbadi Party who contested the 2022 elections under the symbol of the Maoist Centre, had voted for Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey of the Nepali Congress. Devkota’s vote was a must for Pandey to win the confidence of the assembly.

The Maoist Centre parliamentary party had given its members a franchise to vote against Pandey. Devkota, however, opposed the franchise, arguing that the Maoist Centre’s directive did not apply to him as he belonged to another party.

In the November 2022 parliamentary elections, the Nepal Samajbadi Party led by Baburam Bhattarai forged an electoral alliance and used the electoral symbol of the Maoist Centre.