Kathmandu. The Supreme Court (TAG_CLOSE_b_12 SC) has issued a mandamus order in the name of the government to release former Prime Minister and CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli and former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, who were arrested during the demonstration organized by the government on September 23 and 24, 2002.
A division bench of Justices Binod Sharma and Sunil Kumar Pokhrel issued the order on April 7.TAG_OPEN_p_22 The court has ordered the immediate release of Oli and the writer who have been detained illegally.
Oli and the writer were arrested and imprisoned on the basis of a complaint filed by Purushottam Khatiwada during the demonstration by the government at that time.TAG_OPEN_p_21 Radhika Shakya on behalf of Oli and Yashoda Lekhak had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on behalf of the writers, claiming that the arrest and detention was illegal. (Writ No. 082-WH-0221 and Writ No. 082-WH-0222)
The Government of Nepal, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Singha Durbar were named as the defendants in the writ petition.TAG_OPEN_p_20
} The court has said that as per the order issued by the Kathmandu District Court on September 7, 2082, the investigation work has been completed within the time limit and a decision has been made whether to proceed the case or not. If this is not done, it would be against the procedure of Section 15 of the Civil Criminal Procedure Code, 2074 to keep them in custody even after the extension of the deadline.
“In the writ petition, a mandamus order has been issued in the name of the defendants to release KP Sharma Oli and Ramesh Lekhak from custody after completing the process of Section 15 of the Civil Criminal Procedure Code, 2074 and to complete further investigation and do whatever needs to be done,” reads the TAG_OPEN_i_13 order.TAG_OPEN_p_18 “
The court has also directed to inform the respondents of this order immediately and to do so in accordance with the rules. The brief order was issued immediately as it would take time to prepare the full text of the order.
More than TAG_OPEN_p_16 100 legal practitioners including former Attorney General Agni Prasad Kharel, senior advocates Shambhu Thapa, Harihar Dahal, Mahadev Yadav, Surendra Mahato, and other learned advocates argued on behalf of the petitioner.
Likewise, learned Deputy Attorney General Sanjeev Raj Regmi and others argued on behalf of the Government of Nepal.TAG_OPEN_p_15 After studying the arguments and evidence of both sides, the Supreme Court ordered his release.
With this order, the government has released KP Sharma Oli and Ramesh Lekhak from custody and paved the way for the investigation to proceed.TAG_OPEN_p_14
