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The District Court, Kathmandu has ordered to release 17 individuals including the Chairman of Managing Director of Bhatbhateni Super Market arrested in connection with the Lalita Niwas land grab case on bail.

A single bench of Judge Bholanath Dhakal issued the order to release one of the 18 people to be released on a general date.

He also sought Rs 24. 6 million as a bail bond from Gurung, the operator of the Bhatbhateni Supermarket.

The hearing was started on September 3 after recording the statements of 18 persons were completed.

A case was filed against 312 defendants in the Lalita Niwas land scam.

A case of forgery of government documents was filed at the Kathmandu District Court against them.

The recording of the statements of the defendants, who were in custody, was started on August 28.

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

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police has started the investigation based on the complaint registered by Mukunda Prasad Panta, Chief of the Summer Jung Company.

The CIB had submitted the report prepared after 57 days of investigation to the Attorney’s Office on August 22.

The Attorney’s Office filed the case at the Kathmandu District Court after studying the report on August 27.

The CIB gave final shape to the investigation after interrogating former prime ministers Baburam Bhattarai and Madhav Nepal among others involved in the case.

A total of 18 persons including Krishna Bahadur Raut, Secretary at the Communications Ministry, Gurung, operator of Bhatbhateni Supermarket, Sudhir Kumar Shah, former commissioner of the Election Commission and former government employees were apprehended in connection with the Lalita Niwas land scam.

The CIB had started investigating the case in 2019 in relation to forged documents and fake governmental stamps related to Lalita Niwas land transactions.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that his visit to China will be fruitful and effective.

The Prime Minister, who will leave for China after taking part in  the United Nations General Assembly in New York, had called a meeting on Sunday morning to discuss the agendas.

After receiving the suggestions, Prime Minister Dahal said that he is trying to make his upcoming visit to China more fruitful.

“I will try to make the visit effective by fixing the agendas keeping in mind the suggestions given by you,” he said.

Before leaving for the northern neighbor, former prime ministers and foreign ministers said that it is necessary to review the implementation status of the agreements made with him in the past.

The participants suggested to the Prime Minister to convince the neighboring countries about the non-aligned foreign policy of Nepal, maintain balanced diplomatic relations, take into consideration the issues of mutual concern and including each other’s security.

In response, Prime Minister Dahal said that he is committed to maintaining balanced relationships with all the countries of the world including the neighbors and Nepal’s non-aligned foreign policy.

Similarly, the Prime Minister said that he will appraise the United Nations General Assembly of Nepal’s peace process, development efforts and impact of climate change among others.

Former prime minister KP Sharma Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Democratic Socialist Party Chairman Mahantha Thakur, Janamat Party Chairman CK Raut and Rastriya Janamorcha Party Chairman Chitra Bahadur KC among others were present in the meeting.

Prime Minister Dahal is leaving for New York to take part in the United Nations General Assembly on September 16.

He is scheduled to leave for China from there.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been suggested to take the neighboring countries into confidence.

During a meeting with leaders of major political parties representing the Parliament, foreign minister and former foreign ministers among others at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar on Sunday, they suggested the Prime Minister move ahead by taking China and India into confidence.

After the meeting, former foreign minister Ramesh Nath Pandey said that China and India are losing trust in Nepal’s leaders.

“China and India are losing confidence from Nepal’s leaders. Why did they lose their trust? Why did they not trust Nepal? We have suggested to the Prime Minister to understand this matter,” he said.

He suggested the Prime Minister immediately create an environment of trust with neighboring countries.

Similarly, Janamat Party Chairman CK Raut has suggested inquiring about the measures China has adopted to alleviate poverty.

He also suggested the Prime Minister create an environment to open Chinese industries in Nepal.

“The fertilizer factory should also be opened immediately,” he said.

Bagmati Province Assembly Speaker Bhuwan Kumar Pathak has called for an all-party meeting today.

Speaker Pathak has called an all-party meeting for 10 am on Sunday to discuss the conduct of the provincial assembly meeting. It may be noted that the meeting has been stalled following the objection of opposition parties including UML.

A meeting of the provincial assembly has also been called for 11 today, with the probability of a consensus being reached from the all-party meeting. The provincial assembly meeting has not been held since July 7.

The provincial assembly meeting called for September 4 was postponed three times after the government and opposition parties failed to reach an agreement.