While assuming office on October 10, 2014, Shah had vowed to maintain zero tolerance for corruption within the judiciary, and to completely bar middlemen from the courts. Shah had also vowed to take the initiative to make the courts paperless, besides managing the cases and benches as well as giving priority to old cases that have remained unsettled.
While Shah's nine-month tenure has been marked with some good initiatives as vowed by him, there were also some major controversies.Good initiatives
After assuming the office of Chief Justice, Shah gave priority to cases that had remained unsettled for more than five years. When Shah assumed office, there were 583 cases older than five years. This number has now come down to 296.
The Third Strategic Plan of the Judiciary has given special priority to judgment execution, and Shah, as the head of the judiciary, provided the leadership for this. The Supreme Court deployed a special taskforce, including court staff and Nepal Police personnel, in 16 districts from October 18, 2014.
As chief justice, Shah also took initiative in bench management at the Supreme Court. He established a routine of publishing the daily cause list at 10:30 A.M. and starting bench hearings at 11 A.M.
As promised, Shah gave high priority to upgrading the use of information technology within the judiciary. During his tenure, the court started providing court dates online as well as providing information on the status of any case through SMS.
Holding a judges' conference, raising the collective voice of judges in the constitution-making process, and arranging for restarting the benches at the Supreme Court soon after the devastating earthquake despite quake damage to the main building of the apex court, are examples of Shah's good leadership.
Major Controversies
As chief justice, Shah was chairman of the Judicial Council for nine months. But this body, which recommends names for appointment as justices for the Supreme Court and judges at lower courts, failed to fill up vacant judicial positions. In a self-review, Shah has mentioned this as a task that he could not complete. He said that the Judicial Council remained indecisive despite the several meetings it held.
He also mentioned the resignation of council member Upendra Keshari Neupane and the failure of Nepal Bar Association (NBA) to recommend a replacement as being behind the failure of the council.
However, the council's failure was also a result of Shah's being at loggerheads with Minister for Law and Justice Narahari Acharya.
Meanwhile, relations between the bar and the bench did not remain smooth during Shah's tenure. He sent a letter to NBA through his personal secretariat, seeking clarifications over a declaration issued by the NBA conference regarding the issue of corruption within the judiciary.
The affair soured relations between bar and bench, which ultimately hindered the appointment of judges.
Though Shah was proactive in developing the use of information technology at the judiciary, his decision to appoint Deepak Timalsina as IT consultant at the Supreme Court caused controversy. He had to face charges of irregularity in the procurement process for IT goods.
Shah's move in transferring judges at the lower courts and sending judicial staff on deputation at a time when the process for Shrestha's appointment as CJ had already started also raised controversy. He was accused of transferring judges and staff who differed with his working style.
Likewise, some of the verdicts and orders issued from Shah's bench ran into fierce criticism. Annulling an interim order and upholding the appointment of Digambar Jha as chairman of Nepal Telecommunications Authority, and annulling a government decision to transfer 15 ropani of land used by ex-king Gyanendra's daughter Prerana to the Nepal Trust were some of the controversial verdicts issued by Shah.
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