Supreme Court decision on Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and possible aftereffects

The decision has revived the CPN-UML and the Maoist Centre, thereby leading to a split in the Dahal-Nepal faction and opened up myriad possibilities.

Passing a verdict on an almost-three-year-old case, the Supreme Court on Sunday said that the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) registered with the Election Commission is illegitimate. In saying so, a division bench of Justices Kumar Regmi and Bom Kumar Shrestha issued a certiorary order to the Election Commission quashing its decision to award the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) to KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Reinstating the CPN-UML and the Communist Party of Nepal to their pre-merger state, the bench also issued an order of mandamus to the Election Commission to invite both the parties if they want to merge [again] as per existing laws. On Monday evening, those from the UML who were with Dahal decided to return home, leaving the Maoist Centre.