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The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police recorded the statements of former prime minister duo Baburam Bhattarai and Madhav Kumar Nepal in connection with the Lalita Niwas land grab case.

The statements of the former prime ministers were recorded at a time there were rumors that the CIB was preparing to submit the investigation report without interrogating Bhattarai and Nepal.

Meanwhile, taking to Facebook, Bhattarai said that he informed the CIB about the truth after various questions were raised regarding the decision taken by his cabinet.

“I have fulfilled my duty by giving truthful information to the CIB as per my public commitment regarding the questions related to the decision taken by his Cabinet in the Lalita Niwas land scam during my tenure,” he said.

He expressed his belief that this case will be a milestone to end all types of corruption and irregularities.

The Bhattarai’s Secretariat said that Bhattarai responded to all the questions against him by calling the CIB officials at his house.

Four years ago, a case was filed against the then prime ministers Madhav Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai in the Lalita Niwas land grab case.

The hearing of the case has not been held yet.

ALSO READ: ApEx Explainer: Everything you need to know about Lalita Niwas scam

During the Madhav Kumar Nepal government, Bijay Kumar Gachhadar of the Nepali Congress served as a Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Deep Basnyat was the secretary at the ministry. It was during their tenure that they decided to fraudulently register plots of land in the names of numerous individuals and fake tenants.

The Nepal Cabinet had made a decision to expand the prime minister’s residence and construct a road within Lalita Niwas by compensating individuals who had illegally occupied the land. This agenda was brought by Gachhadar in the Cabinet. It has been found that the Nepal Cabinet made three different decisions in three separate meetings, providing an opportunity for the accused parties to engage in the scam.

All of the decisions were against the law. Several members in the Nepal Cabinet have stated that Lalita Niwas-related matters were never discussed during meetings, indicating the potential direct involvement of former prime minister Nepal.

The probe committee identifies Shova Kanta Dhakal and Ram Kumar Subedi as key individuals involved in the scam, labeling them as ‘land mafias’. From the early stages of the scam, these individuals have been implicated, as they still hold over 15 ropanis of Lalita Niwas land in their names, even after selling 30 ropanis of land to others.

The proprietor of Bhatbhateni Supermarket, Min Bahadur Gurung, and his family are owners of more than 29 ropanis of Lalita Niwas land. They acquired the land from Dhakal and Subedi. Furthermore, the duo also sold approximately five ropanis of land to former election commissioner Sudhir Kumar Shah.

When Bhattarai was prime minister, his Cabinet decided to transfer around three ropanis of land of Nepal government to ‘Pashupati Tinkinchha Guthi’ but the Trital-led committee had been unable to find about this Guthi. Neither the ministry officials nor the Guthi stakeholders know about the existence of this Guthi, raising suspicion against Bhattarai in the land grab case.

The Socialist Front, comprising four political parties, has decided to hold meetings in all the seven provinces starting August 25.

A meeting of the Front held on Monday morning at the central office of CPN (Unified Socialist) Party in Baneshwar decided to hold meetings in all the seven provinces, said CPN (US) Vice-Chairman Pramesh Hamal.

The first provincial meeting of the Front will be held in Birgunj of Madhes Province on August 25, Butwal of Lumbini Province on August 29, Dhangadhi of Sudurpaschim Province on August 30, Surkhet in Karnali Province on August 31, Pokhara in Gandaki Province on September 1, Hetauda of Bagmati Province on September 9 and Biratnagar of Koshi Province September 11.

Hamal said that it was decided to form the provincial front through the same provincial meetings.

Today's meeting also reviewed the government's performance, contemporary political developments, and discussed ways to garner support for the anti-corruption campaign launched by the current government.

The Front consists of CPN (Maoist Center), Janata Samajbadi Party, CPN (Unified Socialist) and Biplav-led CPN.

A meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) scheduled for 1 pm today has been put off until August 22.

The Federal Parliament Secretariat informed about this through a notice it issued at 3 pm today.

The notice states that Parliament will now meet at 3 pm on August 22.

The next meeting of the House of Representatives has been postponed till Tuesday in accordance with the Rule 6, Sub-rule (3) of the House of Representatives Regulations, 2079, states the notice issued by the Secretary-General of the Parliament.

A meeting of the political parties representing the Parliament was held in Singha Durbar earlier today for resuming the parliament business.

Today's meeting of the HoR had to be postponed as this meeting also could not forge consensus on ending the House obstruction.

The Parliament meetings have been stalled for a month now due to the obstruction by the main opposition party CPN-UML.

The parliamentary hearing of proposed Chief Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha has been scheduled for Monday.

The complaints against the proposed Chief Justice Shrestha have been discussed in the Parliamentary Hearing Committee on Sunday.

A general discussion was held among the members of the committee about the complaints filed against Shrestha in the meeting held at Singha Durbar this morning.

Committee member Jeevan Pariyar said that three complaints have been registered against Shrestha and the complainants have been called for discussion tomorrow.

“Three complaints have been lodged against proposed Chief Justice Shrestha. A decision has been made to call the complainants at 10: 30 am tomorrow for discussion,” he said.

According to the Parliament Secretariat, two complaints have been filed through email and SP Timilsina lodged the complaint physically.

Earlier on August 8, the meeting of the committee had called to register complaints against Shrestha.

The Constitutional Council meeting held on August 3 had decided to recommend senior Justice Shrestha as the Chief Justice.