Nepal's Supreme Court has ruled that the faction led by Gagan Thapa is the legitimate Nepali Congress (one of Nepal's oldest and largest democratic political parties), upholding a prior decision by the country's Election Commission. A division bench of justices Saranga Subedi and Nripa Dhwoj Niroula issued the ruling on 17 April, dismissing petitions that had challenged the Election Commission's recognition of Thapa's Central Working Committee. The verdict consolidates Thapa's leadership of the party and affirms the outcome of the special general convention from which his faction emerged.