Sushila Karki, who has no political background, is best known for her tenure as the first female Chief Justice of Nepal’s Supreme Court from July 2016 to June 2017. Her judicial rise began in 2009 when she was appointed an interim judge in Nepal’s Supreme Court. A year later, she became a permanent judge and by July 2016, had risen to the top position as Chief Justice. Public protests erupted in defense of judicial independence, and the Supreme Court itself intervened, halting the process. The motion was withdrawn within weeks, and Justice Karki returned to her post before retiring a month later, in June 2017.