About 50 years ago, when Sushila Karki completed his postgraduate studies in political science from Banaras Hindu University, she might not have thought that she would set a record in Nepal politics. Karki, the first woman Chief of the Supreme Court of Nepal, became the first woman Prime Minister of the country on Friday (September 12, 2025). He took oath as PM post at around 9:30 pm.
Karki was selected to lead the interim government after a meeting between President Ramchandra Paudel, Army Chief Ashok Raj Sigdel, including Nepal’s top military officials and ‘GEN-Z’, and ‘Gen-Z’. In July 2016, Karki was appointed as the 24th Chief Justice of Nepal and became the first and the only woman to hold the post. Karki held this post for about 11 months.
Has faced impeachment motion
Senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi said, ‘He has created an image of a courageous and fair justice advocating a zero tolerance to corruption. As a courageous and determined judge, she has stood firmly against corruption.
Karki also faced the impeachment motion introduced by the then Prime Minister Sherbahadur Deuba government, but was later withdrawn. Many parties considered this proposal politically biased.
32 years spent in judicial profession
Karki was born on 7 June 1952 in Shankarpur-3 of Viratnagar, Eastern Nepal, which is near the Indian border. He completed a graduate degree from Mahendra Morang Campus-Tribhuvan University, Nepal in 1971 and a postgraduate degree in Political Science from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1975. He then obtained a law degree from Tribhuvan University in 1978.
Karki spent 32 years in the judicial profession and became a symbol of the progress of women in the field of judiciary. He started his advocacy in Viratnagar in 1979, where his strong academic background shaped his legal career.
Permanent Judge’s post held in the year 2010
Meanwhile, in 1985, he was also appointed as an assistant teacher at Mahendra Multiple Campus, Dharan. Karki became a senior advocate in 2007 and in 2009 she was appointed ad hoc judge in the Supreme Court. She became a permanent judge on 18 November 2010.
Karki is the eldest of the seven children of her parents and grew up in an ordinary farmer family in Viratnagar. He is married to former popular Nepali Congress leader Durga Prasad Subedi. Both met while studying in BHU.
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