The Supreme Court has directed Madhesh Province Chief Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav to seek a vote of confidence within 24 hours.

 If the vote of confidence is not obtained, the Supreme Court has also asked the provincial chief to proceed with the process of forming the government as per Article 168 (2) of the Constitution. Article 168 (2) provides for the formation of a majority government of two or more parties.

The order was given by a joint bench of Justices Hari Prasad Phuyal and Nityanand Pandey on Monday. 74 MPs from Madhesh had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court demanding the cancellation of the appointment of Chief Minister Yadav. Hearing the writ petition, the Supreme Court has given Chief Minister Yadav, who was appointed under Article 168 (3) of the Constitution, an opportunity to move the vote of confidence once and if he fails, the provincial chief has opened the way for the process of forming the government as per Article 2.

‘If the Madhesh Province, Provincial Assembly submits a decision and obtains a vote of confidence, it is deemed that the matter will be resolved accordingly, and if it is not resolved, it is deemed that a mandate will be issued to take necessary and appropriate initiatives regarding the formation of a government or the appointment of the Chief Minister as mentioned in the above case, as per Article 168 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, and to take action/cause action regarding the formation of another government or the appointment of the Chief Minister,’ the verdict said.

After the Supreme Court’s mandate, Yadav will have to convene the Madhesh Provincial Assembly on Tuesday itself and proceed with the process of seeking a vote of confidence. Chief Minister Yadav said that he would accept the Supreme Court’s order. ‘I will proceed with the process of seeking a vote of confidence within 24 hours,’ he said.

The Supreme Court has issued such an order saying that the situation has remained as it is, without sufficient practice towards the option of being appointed as the Chief Minister as per Article 168 (2) of the Constitution, Yadav has been appointed as the Chief Minister and sworn in as per Article 168 (3) of the Constitution. Article 168(3) provides that if the Chief Minister cannot be appointed as per clause (2) or if the Chief Minister so appointed fails to obtain a vote of confidence, the leader of the parliamentary party of the largest party in the Provincial Assembly can be appointed as the Chief Minister. However, the then Madhesh Province Chief Sumitra Subedi Bhandari appointed Yadav as the Chief Minister as per Article 168(3) despite the possibility of forming a government under Article 168(2). Manish Suman, spokesperson of JSP Nepal, one of the parties that filed the writ petition, said that Chief Minister Yadav should resign as the vote of confidence has no meaning. “The court’s decision is satisfactory. Our demand was that the Chief Minister appointed under Article 168(3) of the Constitution should be dismissed,” Suman said. “The Supreme Court did not give that order, but the vote of confidence has no meaning.” He should have resigned.'

On October 24, the then provincial chief Bhandari, who had gone to Kathmandu for treatment, had sworn in Yadav as the chief minister at the Panas Cottage Hotel in Kalapani, Bardibas. The provincial chief had sworn in UML's Lakhandas Tatma, Federal Socialist Party's Bimala Ansari, and RPP's Kanchan Bichha as ministers at the hotel. After completing the work required in the provincial assembly at the hotel, the government dismissed Bhandari as the provincial chief and appointed Surendra Labh.

After appointing the chief minister overnight at the hotel, 74 lawmakers including Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader Krishna Prasad Yadav, JSP Nepal parliamentary party leader Saroj Kumar Yadav, Maoist parliamentary party deputy leader Yubaraj Bhattarai, and LOSPA parliamentary party leader Jayalun Rai reached the Supreme Court on October 25.