Sushila Karki (born 7 June 1952, Biratnagar, eastern Nepal) is a Nepali lawyer, judge, and politician who has held two historic firsts: she was the **first female chief justice of Nepal** and later became the country’s **first woman head of government** as interim prime minister in 2025.[1][3][4] Trained in law and political science, she earned degrees from Tribhuvan University in Nepal and Banaras Hindu University in India before starting legal practice in Biratnagar in 1979 and briefly teaching at Mahendra Multiple Campus, Dharan.[1][2][5] Karki became active in prodemocracy politics during the 1990 People’s Movement against the Panchayat regime, for which she was briefly imprisoned in Biratnagar.[1][2][3] She rose through the legal profession as president of the Biratnagar Appellate Court Bar Association and was designated a senior advocate by the Nepal Bar Association in 2004.[1][2][4] Appointed an ad hoc justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal in 2009 and made permanent in 2010, Karki was named acting chief justice in early 2016 and confirmed as **chief justice** in July that year, serving until mid-2017.[1][2][4] On the bench she became known for a strong anti‑corruption stance, issuing landmark decisions including the conviction of Information and Communications Minister Jaya Prakash Gupta for corruption and rulings against powerful figures in the anti-graft body and security services.[2][3][5] A controversial government-backed impeachment motion in 2017, triggered by her ruling on the police chief’s appointment, briefly suspended her, but it lapsed when her term ended.[2][3] After retirement she wrote an autobiography, *Nyaya*, and the novel *Kara*, reflecting on judicial independence and her imprisonment.[3] In 2025, amid large youth-led anti-corruption protests that forced Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign, Karki was appointed **interim prime minister** tasked with steering Nepal through a constitutional crisis toward new elections, cementing her current relevance as a nonpartisan reform figure.[1][3][4][5]