The Supreme Court has quashed the government's decision to abolish the Land Problems Resolution Commission. A bench of Justices Saranga Subedi and Shrikant Poudel ruled that the writ petition filed by Land Commission Chairman Hari Prasad Rijal will be 'suspended'.

The Sushila Karki government had decided to abolish the Land Problem Resolution Commission and its district committees through a cabinet meeting on 23 Asoj. With the Supreme Court's Monday's decision, the commission and its district committees will now be able to resume work as per the 'mandate'.

The government had taken the decision to abolish the commission on the proposal of Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Anil Kumar Sinha, stating that the land deeds prepared during the abolition of the commission could be distributed and the data obtained would be recognized, but new work would be prohibited. Commission Chairman Rijal had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court on 9 Kartik, demanding that the government's decision be quashed by the order of the court.

The Supreme Court had initially issued a short-term interim order on 11 Kartik on the writ petition. A bench of Justice Meghraj Pokharel had issued a short-term interim order to keep the government's decision in the status quo until further discussion. Immediately on 13 Kartik, a bench of Justices Kumar Regmi and Shantisingh Thapa issued an interim order.

On Monday, the Supreme Court held its final hearing and found the government's decision to be unconstitutional. After this Supreme Court ruling, the Land Commission has been revived. As soon as the full text is received, the government's previous decision to abolish the commission and district structure will be revoked and the commission will work.

The current Land Problem Resolution Commission, formed on 13 Kartik 2081, had moved forward with the work at a rapid pace, calling it 'the last opportunity for land registration and land acquisition in the names of landless Dalits, landless squatters and unorganized settlers across the country'.

On 30 Shrawan, the commission had issued a notice giving an additional 35 days to submit applications, saying 'for the last time'. The government changed before the deadline for the notice expired. Less than a month after the formation of the new government, the decision to abolish the Land Commission was made. The applications that were pending with the commission before that are pending.

According to the latest details updated by the Land Commission, the applications of 88,895 landless Dalits, 168,441 landless squatters and 872,181 unorganized settlers have been verified by the local level and entered into the information system of the Commission. Since 2076, only 8,848 landless and unorganized settlers have received land ownership certificates.

There are many land-related problems in Nepal. These problems are particularly related to the judicial distribution of land, housing, land ownership, access to agricultural land and good governance. The problem of landless and unorganized settlers is the main one. This problem is directly related to about 20 percent of the total population of Nepal.

Land has been provided as a 'fundamental right' to resolve some issues related to land through the Constitution.

The seventh amendment to the Land Act was made in 2075 to implement this provision. Section 52 ‘A’ of the Act (Seventh Amendment 2075) states, ‘The Government of Nepal shall provide land to landless Dalits for a one-time period within three years as specified.’ According to this provision, landless Dalits were not supposed to receive land by Asoj 2078.

As per the provision made by the amendment to the Act, a Land Problem Resolution Commission was formed in Baisakh 2076 under the leadership of Devi Gyawali. It was dissolved in 2078 and a National Land Commission was formed under the leadership of Keshav Niraula. That commission was also dissolved in 2081.