Nepal’s Removed Police Chief Takes Challenge to Supreme Court

KATHMANDU, 5 November 2026 — Nepal’s former police chief Dan Bahadur Karki has approached the Supreme Court to challenge the government’s decision to remove him as inspector general of police, a new legal step following the Cabinet reshuffle announced on 4 November. His lawyer said the writ petition had been taken to the court but procedural steps were still underway; available reporting did not establish that the court had registered the case, scheduled a hearing or issued an order.

Advocate Tika Bahadur Kunwar, who represents Karki, told The Kathmandu Post that the legal team had reached the Supreme Court with the petition and that other procedures were underway. The Annapurna Express separately reported the move on 5 November. The distinction matters: taking a petition to court is not the same as a court admitting it or ruling on the merits.

On Wednesday the Cabinet replaced Karki with Manoj Kumar KC, previously an additional inspector general, and assigned Karki to a newly created special security adviser post at Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s office. KC has assumed the police leadership. Government spokesperson Sasmit Pokharel said the decision was a change of responsibilities rather than disciplinary action, according to The Rising Nepal’s account of the Cabinet briefing.

The court approach is a new development since TFNOS reported the Cabinet reshuffle. The earlier report established the leadership change and the government’s non-disciplinary explanation, but no filed legal challenge or court decision. Karki’s legal move now puts the government’s use of its appointment and reassignment powers in dispute, without itself proving the Cabinet acted unlawfully.

The dispute also follows the 30 October detention and release of three journalists, over which police and the Prime Minister’s Office gave conflicting explanations. No verified court finding in the material reviewed establishes that the journalist detentions caused Karki’s removal or identifies who ordered the newsroom operations.

Nepal has a relevant historical precedent: former police chief Achyut Krishna Kharel challenged his removal in the 1990s and was later reinstated after a change of government. The Kathmandu Post recounts that earlier dispute, but it does not predetermine the result of Karki’s new challenge.

The next documentary checks are the petition’s court registration number and exact requested relief, the signed Cabinet decision, any interim order or hearing date, and the government’s formal response. Until those are available, the established news is the legal challenge being presented to the Supreme Court—not a judicial reversal of the appointment.