Kathmandu: Temporary tents were set up on Nepal’s Supreme Court premises on Sunday morning, the first working day after curfew was relaxed by the army in the Himalayan nation, which was rocked by massive protests and violence last week.
Under the white tents, with Supreme Court Nepal printed on top, the staff from different courts met litigants, handing them new dates for their court proceedings.
The Supreme Court complex, just as most government buildings across Kathmandu, has been completely damaged in the arson during the Gen Z protests last week, which also led to the downfall of the previous KP Sharma Oli regime. The temporary tents were set up right next to a pile of charred vehicles and two-wheelers in the middle of the court complex, where people from various parts of the country had come since early morning to have their cases heard.
The records of at least 26,000 ongoing case files as well as stored records of 36,000 files in the apex court complex were destroyed in the fire, according to senior advocate Purna Man Sakya, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
During a public address on Sunday, newly appointed Prime Minister Sushila Karki also spoke about the loss of judicial files and damage to the Supreme Court building. Karki said all records and judicial files were destroyed in the arson and that they have to start rebuilding everything from scratch.
Sakya was among the many advocates who had come to the court on Sunday as it reopened for business after the curfew was eased by the army a day ago. However, the courtrooms, the registrar’s office and even the chambers of judges and the chief justice were charred and damaged. All lawyers and court staff were requested not to enter the building for fear of damaged structures falling on them.
Hundreds of motorcycles and vehicles, including those belonging to the judges and lawyers, were burnt inside the complex last week. “The courts could not function today but we are all trying to have at least some courts to be moved to an undamaged annexe building, where at least urgent matters can be taken. For now it has been decided that cases of habeas corpus will be heard by the judges in the annexe building that will be made into courts. It is a temporary measure. There will be many habeas corpus cases after the violence, and must be addressed swiftly,” said senior advocate, Kedar Prasad Koirala, who is also the secretary general of Nepal Bar Association.
By around 2pm, at least 148 litigants had approached the court staff to mark their attendance. They were given new dates and explained how the court rooms would function soon.
Senior advocate Sakya said that over the last two days the bar and the bench had held meetings to discuss the loss of records and the further course of action. “All cases in the SC are those which have been decided in lower courts. All lawyers whose cases were here have a copy of the case files. We have decided to request all lawyers to help the court by giving the courts a photocopy of the case documents to the court. The documents will then be stored as case files in court records,” Sakya said.
At the tents within the complex, the staff will start taking cases of illegal detentions and other complaints, he said. “There will be many cases. The court work cannot stop so even as we speak, the court staff are meeting people under the tents,” he added.
On September 9, groups of protesters, mostly students identifying themselves as Gen Z, ran riot across the city, with mobs entering various government offices, burning them down and destroying everything they could find. The Supreme Court premises, located near Kathmandu’s famous Singha Durbar, which houses the office of the country’s prime minister and other ministers, was also targeted by protesters. Various offices in the Singha Durbar have been burnt by the mob last week.
An official from the registrar’s office, who was meeting litigants under the tent, said: “The Registrar Office on the ground floor was the first to be targeted. The mob then went up to the upper floors and even burnt the chief justice’s chamber. They collected files and computers in one place and burnt them. All court records are charred. We had to buy this register to write the names of the litigants coming to us today.”