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The Supreme Court has overturned its own previous decision to cut the life sentence of former DIG of Armed Police Force Ranjan Koirala.

A full bench of acting Chief Justice Deepak Kumar Karki and Justices duo Tanka Bahadur Moktan and Kumar Chudal on Thursday decided to give continuity to the decision of district and high courts to send him to life in prison and confiscate his property.

Earlier, suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana and Justice Tej Bahadur KC had issued a verdict to commute Koirala's sentence from life imprisonment to eight and a half years for murdering his wife Dhakal.

Koirala was released after serving eight and a half years prison terms on July 22, 2020.

The Kathmandu District Court handed down a life term to Koirala in January 2012 and the decision was upheld by the Patan High Court.

Koirala killed his wife Gita in February 2012. 

The Supreme Court has directed the government not to construct an international airport in Nijgadh of Bara.

A five-member bench of Justices Hari Krishna Karki, Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha, Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada, Prakash Man Singh Raut and Manoj Kumar Sharma on Thursday scrapped the decision of the government to construct an international airport in Nijgadh.

The apex court also directed the government to find an alternative of Nijgadh.

Earlier, senior advocate Prakash Mani Sharma and Ranjuhajur Pandey among others filed a writ petition at the Supreme seeking annulment of the government decision to construct the airport by cutting down trees and using concrete at the proposed construction site of an international airport in Nijgadh.

Nepal must urgently remove the restrictive statute of limitations on cases of rape and other sexual violence through amendment as it continues to be a barrier for survivors in access to justice, said Amnesty International today.

It has also expressed solidarity with the ongoing protests that are demanding swift justice for victims of sexual violence and reform of rape laws in Nepal.

Activists in Nepal have taken to the streets after a survivor on 18 May through social media made public the allegations of rape that was committed eight years ago, when she was 16 years old. Under the 2017 penal code of Nepal, complaints of rape must be filed within one year from the date of the commission of crime.

This is grossly restrictive as it prevents many victims from accessing legal remedy effectively, in particular, victims of child rape. As a result of the pressure from the protests and in light of one-year limitation, the police arrested the alleged perpetrator on 21 May under Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act, 2007, the AI said in a press release today.

"Time and again we have seen courageous survivors are denied justice because of the outdated and harmful one-year limit for filing rape complaints. The current provision is grossly restrictive, unfair and unmindful of the state the survivor might be in. In its current form, such provisions allow many perpetrators of rape to get away with their crimes," said Yamini Mishra, South Asia Regional Director at Amnesty International.

The grossly restrictive and inadequate length of limitation fails to take into account the stigma that women and girls face when reporting cases of sexual and gender-based violence and prevents them from accessing legal remedy, therefore, fosters impunity for such crimes.

"The provision in its current form should be repealed immediately to guarantee sufficient time to ensure effective access to remedy that is in line with international obligations. The Nepal government should consider amending the provision to allow the statute of limitation for a period of time that is sufficient and commensurate with the gravity of the offence in question. This needs to be done in consultation with civil society and survivors so as to take into account the stigma that women and girls face when reporting cases of sexual and gender-based violence," said Yamini Mishra.

The Department of Passport under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to provide services even on public holiday, Sunday.

The Department made this decision on Wednesday in line with the government’s policies and programmes of providing electronic passport in an easy manner.

It is providing the passport to the service-recipients in an easy and smooth manner by operating service even on a public holiday in view of the increasing numbers of service seekers coming to the Department.

The Department said today that it will be open from 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday every week from this May 29 until alternative arrangement is made.

It will be providing the passport-related services during that time to the service seekers who have applied for passport and booked the date and time of the day concerned.