KATHMANDU, Sept 9: The Supreme Court has vacated its stay order issued earlier, paving way for the election of the internationally-recognized Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC).
Justices Tej Bahadur KC and Manoj Kumar Sharma, after hearing both the defendant and the plaintiff, took the decision to discontinue the interim order to stay the NOC election. The election, which was scheduled for September 6, was put off following the court order.
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On September 3, the Supreme Court, acting on a writ petition filed by Kamal Bahadur Chitrakar, a member of parallel Olympic committee led by Rukma Shamsher Rana, had stayed the election. Chitrakar had moved the apex court on September 1 after the NOC led by president Jeevanram Shrestha announced election date. Shumsher-led committee has claimed that the Shrestha-led committee has no right to hold election as the latter itself is illegal.
Although the latest order has paved way for the election, the legitimacy of the Shrestha-led committee is yet to be decided.
The new election date will be fixed after briefing the court’s verdict to the International Olympic Committee and Olympic Council of Asia, according to Shrestha.
Shrestha, also a member of parliament, is racing for the position of president again. Former vice-chair Umesh Lal Shrestha is competing against him. Shrestha had defeated the same opponent in the race four years ago. Likewise, Ratan Kumar Tandon was set to be re-elected as the treasurer and NSC vice-president Pitambar Timalsina was certain to be elected as deputy general secretary unopposed as no one had filed candidacy against them.
Of the total 27 eligible voters, 26 have registered their candidacy for various positions.
