Sapana Pradhan Malla (Nepali: à ¤¸à ¤ªà ¤¨à ¤¾ à ¤ªà ¥Âà ¤°à ¤§à ¤¾à ¤¨ à ¤®à ¤²à ¥Âà ¤²) (born 15 November 1963) is the Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal since 1 April 2026.
Malla became a Supreme Court Justice in August 2016. She is a former member of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly. She has served as the former president of Judges Society, the professional organization of Nepalese judges.
Malla currently serves as the senior-most judge (puisne Judge) of the Supreme Court of Nepal.
Malla was born on 15 November 1963, in Nawalparasi district in Nepal. She holds a Bachelor in Law from Tribhuwan University, Master in Comparative Law (MCL) from the Delhi University and Mid-Career Masters on Public Administration from Kennedy School of Government from Harvard University.
Malla has been practicing law since 1987 and became a Senior Advocate in 2013. A former member of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly from May 2008 to May 2012, she advocated for women's rights in all areasâÂÂfrom inclusion to reproductive rights to citizenship.
When asked about the challenges she faces as an advocate for women's rights, she told PassBlue: "When I started working on womenâÂÂs rights, I decided to take up this work because it wasnâÂÂt just social, cultural bias against women that existed in the country, but even the law was problematic. But when you want to reform the law, you need to challenge everything: the state, the biases against women, culture, religion and a majority of patriarchal views."
In 2008, Malla and Yanar Mohammed were joint winners of the Gruber Prize for Women's Rights (given by the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation) for her work related to "public interest litigation in [Nepal], including equality in inheritance, legalization of abortion, criminalization of marital rape, equality in marriage and family law."
Malla was a member of the Committee Against Torture (CAT) during the 2014 to 2017 term. She is also the former president of the Forum for Women, Law & Development.
12.https://english.ratopati.com/story/56591/senior-most-judge-malla-kamu-takes-charge-as-chief-justice