Nepal UK
Dan Bahadur Karki, removed as Inspector General of Nepal Police by an emergency Cabinet meeting on Wednesday 4 November, has asked the Supreme Court to reinstate him. The court administration received his writ petition on Thursday but did not register it, saying it needed time to study the document. Registrar Thagindra Kattel said a decision on registration would be made today, Friday 6 November.
The Cabinet appointed Additional Inspector General Manoj Kumar KC, who was third in the police seniority list, as the new chief, and moved Karki into a newly created post of special security adviser to Prime Minister Balendra Shah. Government spokesperson and Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel said the adviser post was created "to strengthen the country's peace and security situation under the prevailing circumstances". He said the removal followed recommendations from the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party, a claim RSP spokesperson Jagadish Kharel denied.
Karki's petition seeks an interim order suspending the Cabinet decision, writs of quo warranto and mandamus, and restoration for the rest of his term, which was due to run until March 2028. It argues he was removed without being told the grounds or given a chance to respond, and cites a 1997 Supreme Court precedent involving former police chief Achyut Krishna Kharel.
Unnamed officials close to the Prime Minister's Office have linked the dismissal to the police investigation into detained fixer Inam Sapkota. Karki has denied any improper association with Sapkota. These accounts have not been independently verified.
Because the Tihar holidays begin this weekend, a first hearing is unlikely before the court reopens. Latest verified update: 07:19 NPT, 6 November.
