The four former Chief Justices, who were named by suspended CJ Cholendra SJB Rana, have decided not to appear before the meeting of the Impeachment Recommendation Committee (IRC), citing that it would be against the professional integrity and the concept of independent judiciary.

The Committee on Wednesday had decided, and sent a letter to former CJs—Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, Anup Raj Sharma, Kalyan Shrestha and Sushila Karki—and other sitting Supreme Court justices asking them to appear before the meeting to record their statements for investigations based on the statements given by Rana.

“We together sat down and decided not to appear before the meeting. We already provided needful suggestions. We have decided that it would be against the professional integrity and the concept of independent judiciary. We have provided our decision to the Committee,” said Rayamajhi talking to Rastriya Samachar Samiti.

The full court meeting on Thursday sent a letter to the Committee, saying that sitting justices could not be present before the Committee meeting. As a result, the Committee meeting that was scheduled for 8:30 am today was rescheduled for 1 pm today itself.