Karki was born on 7 June 1952 to aChhetri family from Sankarpur (later part ofBiratnagar[5]), Nepal.[6][7] She is the eldest of her family's seven children.[8]
From 1986 to 1989, Karki worked as assistant teacher atMahendra Multiple Campus, Dharan; from 1988, she concurrently wasthe bar president of the Koshi Zonal Court until 1990.[6][5] That year, she participated in the1990 People's Movement to overthrow thePanchayat regime and was imprisoned in Biratnagar Jail. She later wrote the novelKara inspired by her experiences.[11] In 2002, she was made president of the Biratnagar Appellate Court, a role she held until 2004, when she became a senior Advocate at theNepal Bar Association.[6][5]
Karki was appointed anad hoc justice of theSupreme Court of Nepal in poush/magh 2065. Her position was made permanent the following year.[9][6] In March 2016, the Supreme Court heard awrit petition over the appointment ofKhil Raj Regmi as interim Prime Minister. The court held that the petition, originally filed in 2013, was no longer relevant and dismissed it; Karki and Chief JusticeKalyan Shrestha dissented and found that the appointment of Regmi was unconstitutional. Karki later argued that Regmi's appointment had caused lasting damage to theNepalese judiciary system.[12]
After the retirement of Chief Justice Shrestha in April 2016, Karki was recommended to take over the role by the Constitutional Council. She served on anad hoc basis until a formal parliamentary hearing the following July confirmed her appointment.[8][6] She was the first female Chief Justice and known at the time of her appointment for being strict and anti-corruption.[13] She faced opposition for those attributes during her tenure, and was accused by the government of working against them after the Supreme Court overturned the appointment of Jaya Bahadur Chand asChief of Nepal Police.[14][15][9] Impeachment proceedings, which became easier to initiate after the 2015 adoption of theConstitution,[16][12] were started against her in Parliament in April 2017 byNepali Congress andCPN (Maoist Centre); she was automatically suspended.[9][15][17]
According toThe Himalayan Times, the impeachment proceedings were viewed by many to be "politically motivated, intended to thwart the verdicts on some high-profile cases"[15] andUnited Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsZeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said that "the attempt to remove her gives rise to serious concerns about the Government's commitment to transitional justice and the rule of law".[18] Dissatisfied with decision to impeach her, the thendeputy prime minister andhome minister,Bimalendra Nidhi resigned[19][20] and theRastriya Prajatantra Party left the coalition it had formed with Nepali Congress and CPN (MC).[17] In May, theCholendra Shumsher Rana of the Supreme Court issued a stay against the proceedings.[15] Due to public pressure a deal was made during a cabinet reshuffle, and the ruling parties withdrew.[16][7] Karki resigned 6 June 2017 on reaching themandatory retirement age of 65.[21][22][23]
After her retirement from the court, Karki wrote anautobiography about her early life and career as a judge. Published asNyaya, Karki argued that democracy relied on the independence of thejudiciary.[24] The next year, she published her novelKara.[11]
After the 2025Generation Z-ledanti-corruption protests forced Prime MinisterK. P. Sharma Oli to resign, aninterim government was needed and Karki's name was suggested by activists due to her political neutrality.[29] Following a poll on the online communication platformDiscord, protester server members selected Karki out of five options.[30] The appointment was agreed upon during talks with the Nepalese army.[31][30][32]
Karki unveiled hercabinet beginning 15 September 2025.[36] After taking her oath on 12 September, Karki vowed to bring peace, good governance, end corruption and conduct the fairgeneral election after six months starting in March 2026.[37][38][39] In the same statement, she added those who died in the protests will be considered "martyrs".[40][41] After her swearing-in,Prime Minister of IndiaNarendra Modi,China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, andUS Ambassador to NepalDean R. Thompson congratulated Karki on assuming the office of Prime Minister and affirmed their support to the interim government for peace and stability.[42][43][44][45][46][47] On 13 September, Karki visited the hospitals of Kathmandu and met the injured Gen Z protesters, expressing solidarity and assuring them of government support.[48] On 14 September, Karki promised to investigate vandalism during the protests and announced compensation to the injured protesters ofNPR 1 million ($7,000). Families, however, feel that further steps are required to appropriately honor the sacrifice made by those deceased.[49][50] On 15 September, Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile and Sikyong Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration extended his heartfelt congratulations to Karki. Both highlighted the close relationship between the Nepalese and Tibetans and expressed gratitude to country's government and citizens for providing facilities for Tibetan exiles' rehabilitation since 1959.[51][52]
On 25 September, Karki declared that government projects which were poorly planned and carried out on a modest budget or scale by the previous government will be abandoned. In order to raise money for repairing the infrastructure that was harmed during the Gen Z protests, she also announced the creation of a reconstruction fund.[53] She further announced that the minimum voting age has been lowered from 18 to 16 years to increase youth voter participation for the upcoming election.[54] On 29 September, Karki Government suspended and froze the passports of ex-prime ministerK.P Sharma Oli, ex-Home MinisterRamesh Lekhak, along with three other government officials who worked under him including then-home secretary Gokarna Mani Duwadi, then-National Investigation Department chief Hutaraj Thapa, and then-chief district officer of Kathmandu, Chhabi Rijal.[55][56][57][58][59][60]By 15 October, 14 writ petitions had been filed in thesupreme court against Karki and her government.[61]
On October 18, Karki further briefed international diplomats about the upcoming March 2026 parliamentary elections and stressed her government’s focus on transparency, anti-corruption measures, and restoring stability.[62] On 21 October, Karki met leaders from seven political parties to discuss the upcoming elections.[63][64][65][66]
^abAbeyratne, Rehan; Bùi-ngọc-Son, eds. (2022).The law and politics of unconstitutional constitutional amendments in Asia. Comparative constitutional change. London New York, NY:Routledge. pp. 147–148.ISBN978-1-000-48373-4.
^abBùi, Ngọc Sơn; Malagodi, Mara, eds. (2023).Asian comparative constitutional law. Oxford, UK ; New York, NY:Hart Publishing. p. 425.ISBN978-1-5099-4969-4.
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