Sushila Karki

Sushila Karki (born June 7, 1952, Biratnagar, Nepal) is a Nepali lawyer, judge, and politician who served as the first female chief justice of Nepal (2016–17) and as the country’s interim prime minister (2025–26) following the 2025 Nepalese Generation Z Protests, becoming Nepal’s first woman head of government. She was an influential figure during Nepal’s struggle to consolidate democracy after the end of the monarchy in 2008 and developed a reputation for integrity in cases involving corruption and constitutional law.

Early life, education, and career

Karki was born in 1952 in Shankarpur (now part of Biratnagar), eastern Nepal, the eldest of seven children. She completed a bachelor’s degree at Mahendra Morang College, Tribhuvan University, in 1972. In 1975 she earned a master’s degree in political science at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India, where she met her future husband, lawyer Durga Prasad Subedi. After returning to Nepal, she obtained a bachelor of laws degree from Tribhuvan University in 1978.

She began her law practice in Biratnagar in 1979 and later taught part-time at Mahendra Multiple Campus in Dharan, where she was appointed an assistant teacher in 1985. During the People’s Movement in 1990 against Nepal’s absolute monarchy, she joined demonstrations and was briefly imprisoned in Biratnagar. She went on to serve as president of the Appellate Court Bar Association of Biratnagar until 2004, and that same year she was awarded the title of senior advocate by the Nepal Bar Association.

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Supreme Court of Nepal

Karki was appointed as a temporary justice of the Supreme Court in 2009 and became a permanent justice the following year. In 2016 she was named acting chief justice, and in July of that year she was confirmed as Nepal’s first female chief justice.

A key theme of her tenure was her opposition to political favoritism, including the Supreme Court’s annulment of the government’s appointment of Jaya Bahadur Chand as inspector general of police in 2017. Soon afterward, members of parliament filed an impeachment motion against her, leading to her automatic suspension and a political crisis. The motion was ultimately withdrawn, but she stepped down that June after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65.

Following her retirement, she published an autobiography, Nyaya (2018; “Justice”), recounting her legal career, and a novel, Kara (2019; “Prison”), which reflected on her experience in the 1990 People’s Movement, the experiences of female prisoners, and broader issues of women’s rights and feminism in Nepal.

Interim prime minister of Nepal

Following the Generation Z Protests in September 2025, protest leaders named Karki their candidate for interim prime minister, citing her long-standing reputation for integrity and commitment to democracy. After consultations with the army, the decision was relayed to the president’s office, and she was sworn in on September 12.

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Her appointment was hailed by supporters as a generational victory over corruption and oligarchy. Critics, however, emphasized the extralegal nature of the process, pointing to the burning of parliament during the protests and Karki’s selection through an “election” on a Discord server that hosted more than 145,000 protesters.

She began forming her cabinet on September 15 with three appointments, and added four more on September 21. Many of the new ministers were reformist figures, a move widely interpreted as a signal of her commitment to transparency and rebuilding public trust. Her government also established a judicial inquiry commission to investigate the killings and destruction during the protests and created a Reconstruction Fund to support the rebuilding of damaged infrastructure and the restoration of government services.

Karki’s term as interim prime minister began with the task of restoring stability and navigating an uncertain path toward a more democratic and equitable political order in Nepal. Despite this immense challenge, she managed to consolidate her position, retain broad popular support, assemble a reformist cabinet, and initiate measures to address the damage caused by the protests within her first weeks in office.

Karki’s interim administration oversaw parliamentary elections in March 2026. Following the victory of Balendra (“Balen”) Shah and his Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Karki stepped down, and Shah was sworn in as prime minister later that month. Karki’s tenure, though brief, helped stabilize the country and facilitated the rise of a younger generation of leaders.