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The Rautahat District Court has issued a verdict awarding life imprisonment to four persons, including Nepali Congress leader and former minister Mohammad Aftab Alam.

District judge Matrika Prasad Acharya handed down life imprisonment to Alam, his brother Mahatav, Badri Sahani and Sheikh Sheraj after finding them guilty in a case relating to bomb explosion and murder.

However, another one implicated in the case, Mukti Shah has been acquitted.

The bomb was exploded at Rajpurfardawa village of Rautahat on the run up to the election of then Constituent Assembly in 2008.

Similarly, the case of six others absconding after the incident and accused of involvement in the crime has been put on hold.

A case was filed in 2019 accusing 11 persons, including former lawmaker Alam of explosion and murder.

Hearing on the case had concluded on Monday.

On April 28 and 29, Nepal is hosting the 3rd Nepal Investment Summit with the aim of attracting foreign investment for the country's major infrastructure projects. For a long time, there has been a widespread perception among the international community that Nepal presents numerous policy and bureaucratic hurdles for investment. However, this perception is only partially accurate, and there are many misunderstandings about Nepal's investment climate.

While the decade-long insurgency, followed by a prolonged transition period and ongoing political instability, undoubtedly created an unfavorable environment for international investors, these factors alone do not fully explain the lack of foreign direct investment in Nepal. One of the main arguments put forth by the diplomatic community is the lack of policy consistency in the country. However, if we look at the past 10 years, with the exception of a few development projects, there has been relative policy consistency in the country. When it comes to attracting foreign direct investment, there are no major policy disagreements among the major political parties. For instance, the government has issued ordinances to amend nine laws in line with the demands of international investors, and there is no disagreement among the major political parties on this matter. Regardless of whether the government is led by communist or other parties, all are seeking international investment, and there is no disagreement on this front.

Another argument often raised is the lack of political stability in Nepal. While it is true that there has been instability in the past, there has been a degree of political stability following the promulgation of a new constitution in 2015, as elections for all three tiers of government are now held every five years. There are no hostile political parties or groups actively obstructing or discouraging foreign direct investment in Nepal. Concerns raised by the international community, such as tightened labor laws or difficulties in exiting the market, have been substantially eased over the past few years. While issues of corruption and bureaucratic red tape still exist to some extent, there has been progress in addressing these challenges. It is also true that some foreign companies have taken undue advantage of Nepal's poor governance systems. Despite these challenges, Nepal remains an ideal destination for international investors due to its strategic location bordering the large markets of India and China, its youthful population and other factors. 

While Nepal may not achieve full political stability within the next 5-10 years, the current political situation does not pose any significant threats to the international investors.. There is an all-party consensus regarding the investment summit, with no prominent opposition voices raised against it. Therefore, international investors should not be overly influenced by narratives claiming an inappropriate environment for investments in Nepal. At the same time, the diplomatic community should be cautious about misleading their respective investors through flawed briefings about the political situation in Nepal. Despite some occasional street protests, Nepal has largely remained a peaceful country since signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2006.

The Supreme Court has ordered the police administration to keep seven persons including CPN-UML leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi charged in the Bhutanese refugee scam in the custody,  

A joint bench of Justices Kumar Regmi and Tek Prasad Dhungana refused to release them on bail, upholding the decisions of the previous two levels of courts.

Earlier, the Kathmandu District Court and Patan High Court had issued an order to sent UML leader Rayamajhi, the then Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, then then Home Minister Ram Bahadur Badal’s advisor Indrajit Rai, main accused of Bhutanese refugee case Keshav Dulal, Sagar Rai and Sandesh Sharma to the jail.

The apex court, however, had ordered to release Angtawa Sherpa and Govinda Chaudhary on bail.

The court had sought bail of Rs 3 million from Sherpa and Rs 1 million from Chaudhary.

Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, former minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Keshva Prasad Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Sagar Rai, Indrajit Rai, Govinda Kumar Chaudhary, Sandesh Sharma and Angtawa Sherpa, who were in the custody, had filed a complaint against the decision of the High Court.

They are accused of collecting millions of rupees from Nepali nationals promising to send them to the United States as Bhutanese refugees.

The Kathmandu District Court had ordered to send 16 out of 18 defendants allegedly involved in the same to the jail while two others were released on bail.

Former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand, however, was released after posting a bail amount of Rs 3 million in the same case.

Laxmi Maharjan, Ashish Budhathoki, Tanka Kumar Gurung and Keshav Tuladhar were released on general date.

President Ram Chandra Paduel has given approval for mobilizing Nepal Army (NA) in the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Province Assembly (PA) by-elections scheduled to take place on April 27.

The Council of the Ministers on April 22 recommended the President to endorse the deployment of the NA to hold the by-elections in a free, impartial and reliable atmosphere, based on the recommendations of the National Security Council meeting held earlier the same day.

The President granted permission for the mobilization of the NA in the by-elections in accordance with Article 66 (2) of the Constitution.