Kathmandu: The Supreme Court has overturned the government’s decision to grant a public holiday on ‘People’s War’ Day, effective from the first day of Nepali Month Falgun.

The joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Anand Mohan Bhattarai and Mahesh Sharma Paudel has annulled the decision to declare a public holiday on the first day of Falgun.

The Supreme Court stated, “When the basic essence of the constitution is to refrain from making decisions contrary to the fundamental principles of the constitution, and considering that Article 75 of the constitution provides the Cabinet the right to make decisions, only when the understanding is not reached, the decision to declare a public holiday nationwide on the occasion of People’s War Day is contrary to the constitution. The decision made by the Nepal government on 2079/10/29 BS and the decision to continue the same holiday this year, as published in the Nepal Gazette, Section 5, Part 72, Number 65 dated 2079/12/2 BS, along with various decisions and information from different provincial governments, have been annulled through the writ petition order.”

On the day when the Maoists initiated armed conflict, which is the first day of Falgun, the Council of Ministers had decided to observe it as ‘People’s War’ Day and declare a public holiday. Against this, the Supreme Court had received writ petitions from the conflicting parties Gyanendra Raj Aran and Kalyan Budhathoki, among others.