Supreme Court Halts Decisions on Student Unions, Trade Unions

The Supreme Court has issued interim orders suspending two government decisions related to the dissolution of student organisations in universities and trade unions of government employees.

A single bench of Justice Shrikanth Paudel on Sunday ordered that the decision taken by the University Coordination Committee to dissolve student unions in universities should not be implemented until further notice.

The court has scheduled the next hearing for May 18 and directed both parties to present their arguments. It has also ordered the Office of the Attorney General to submit written responses along with relevant documents within 15 days.

The order follows a writ petition filed by ANNFSU President Deepak Dhami against the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, challenging the decision to dissolve student unions.

In a separate ruling, the Supreme Court also issued a short-term interim order against the government’s decision to scrap trade unions of government employees.

A constitutional bench led by acting Chief Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla issued the order through a majority decision.

The constitutional bench included Justices Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Phuyal, Binod Sharma and Sharanga Subedi.

Justices Binod Sharma and Sharanga Subedi, however, recorded dissenting opinions on issuing the interim order.