Sabin Shrestha and Others for FWLD vs. Office of Prime Minister and Others/ Nepal, Writ No. 076-WO-0957 (2020)
Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Act, 2018 was enacted in Nepal however; the Regulation has not been formulated for the implementation of the Act. A writ of Mandamus was filed by FWLD in order to issue an order to enact Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Right Regulation and other necessary procedure guidelines for the effective implementation of the Act.
Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Right Regulation, 2020 was submitted to Government of Nepal, Council of Ministers for approval. The meetings of Council of Ministers have decided to issue the Regulation through discussion on the Committee on 7 July, 2020. Nonetheless, the writ is continued and under trial at the Supreme Court for effective implementation of the Act on the necessary procedure guidelines.
Advocate Meera Dhungana on behalf of FWLD & others V. Government of Nepal
For insuring Women’s rights National Women Commission has been affirm as constitutional organ but the delayed appointment of commissioners and other 4 members has hampered the implementation of women’s fundamental rights, human rights as well as legal rights. The appointment to be done not only because it’s stated in constitution or laws but also in practice to promote the fundamental and legal rights of women, to control and protect the violence against women, discrimination on women and other several essential issues. Advocate Mira Dhugana filed a petition in the Supreme Court on 1st January, 2020 where she Urgently urge the Constitutional Council to issue an order recommending the appointment of the qualified Commissioners for Women’s Commission as per Article 252 (6) of the Constitution of Nepal as soon as possible to ensure the fundamental rights of Nepali women & to protect their rights. An order was issued on 2020-01-03 to show cause and give priority to the hearing of the case. The petition is pending (under consideration) in Supreme Court.
Advocate Meera Dhungana on behalf of FWLD & others V. Government of Nepal
Muluki Civil Code, 2074, has been in force since 17th August, 2018, replacing Muluki ain. There is a provision in paragraph 10 section 214, sub-section (2) of Civil Code that if a widow remarries, the property inherited by her will be taken by the children of her previous husband and if without children then she can inherit the property by herself. Even married men are widowed if their wives die. They also get remarried, but they do not have to leave their share for the children. There is no such legal system. Our legal system does not recognize women’s share as a natural right or we can affirm there is a conditional legal provision to choose between property rights or marital rights. This provision discriminates directly on the basis of gender and marital status. As it is in conflict with the Constitution of Nepal and the international treaties ratified by Nepal, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court in May 2020 seeking to declare it unconstitutional and invalid as per Article 133 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal. But the petition is currently pending in the esteemed Supreme Court.
Advocate Meera Dhungana on behalf of FWLD & others V. Government of Nepal
Citizens with severe disabilities have been receiving social security allowance continuously since 2067 BS after obtaining Blue Identity Card. Similarly, after the Supreme Court issued a directive order to provide social security allowance to single (widowed) women of all ages on 10th March, 2010, the social security allowance has been issued to ensure that widows of any age continue to receive social security allowance and stated it on social security act which was authenticated on 18th September, 2018. However, Article 7 of the Act provides that a single woman who has reached the age of 60 will receive a social security allowance and have not stated on the one below the age of 60, while a person with a complete disability will receive a social security allowance under Article 8 of the Act. Here such discriminatory laws were enacted in the law to stop the allowance of the citizens with severe disabilities. Therefore, the regulations were issued under the same act on 16th March, 2020. The information was shared that from 8th April, 2020, widows under 60 years of age will not get social security allowance, the allowance will be deducted from the food allowance of the severely disabled citizens. Therefore, Forum for Women Law and Development demanded to amend Article 7 of the Social Security Act, 2075 & to include widows below 60 years of age and also to amend Article 8 of the same act to include persons with severely disabled citizen. The petition was registered in the esteemed Supreme Court on 26th May, 2020. Subsequently, a show cause order was issued by the Supreme Court on 10th June, 2020 and an order was also given to give priority to the case. The said petition is currently pending in the Supreme Court.
Arjun Shah & others V. Government of Nepal
On 23rd September, 2020, Arjun Kumar Sah from Mahottari district and Ruby Basnet from Lalitpur district said, “We are citizens of Nepal but still we haven’t got our citizenship. Due to lack of citizenship, various opportunities have been deprived. Such as not being able to get PAN card due to lack of citizenship and being deprived of employment opportunities and not being able to get insurance of Corona on this current Corona epidemic due to lacking of citizenship. A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on 23rd September,2020 on their behalf to provide them with legal assistance and granting them their citizenship. An interim order has also been demanded to give them legal rights immediately and on 29th September, 2020 Supreme Court has issued a show cause order and an interim order on 4th November, 2020 to summon the Opposition for discussion.
Advocate Meera Dhungana on behalf of FWLD & others V. Government of Nepal
According to the legal provision in Section 94 of the Civil Code 2074,“If the wife does not allow him to eat or expels him from the house” & after that moment If the husband files for divorce from his wife, the husband will not be obliged to pay a share or pay any expenses to his wife. As the legal system is in itself conflict with Article 1 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal and also with the International treaties ratified by Nepal. A petition was filed in the esteemed Supreme Court in the month of December 2019, seeking to declare it as unconstitutional and invalid as per Article 133 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal. The petition is still pending in the Supreme Court.
