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The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the decision of the President to grant amnesty to Yog Raj Dhaka aka Regal, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Chetan Manandhar of Nepalgunj.

Organizing a press conference, the Supreme Court informed that a full bench of Justices Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Sapana Pradhan Malla and Kumar Chudal annulled the decision of President Ram Chandra Paudel to pardon Regal.

The Supreme Court has issued a mandamus order to arrest him immediately.

Though the hearing against the decision to grant amnesty to Regal was concluded on Wednesday, the decision was announced only today.

On September 19, President Paudel pardoned Regal as per the government’s recommendation on the occasion of Constitution Day.

Against the same decision, Chetan Manandhar’s wife Bharati Sherpa Manandhar filed a writ petition at the apex court demanding the arrest of the Regal again.

The President’s Office, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Home Ministry, District Administration Office, Banke, District Prison Office, Dang, District Administration Office, Dang and Office of the Attorney General, Kathmandu were made defendants in the case.

Regal had killed Manandhar in broad daylight by using a khukuri on July 14, 2015.

In April, he was convicted of the murder and was slapped with 20 years imprisonment by the Banke District Court.

Bharati had started a hunger strike in Maitighar, Kathmandu following Dashain festival demanding justice for her husband.

The Supreme Court has ordered the government to furnish written clarifications within seven days regarding its decision to grant amnesty to Yograj Dhakal ‘Regal’, a murder convict doing a 20-year jail term.

The Office of the President, Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, Ministry of Home Affairs and District Administration Office, Banke have been made the defendants in the case. 

Responding to a writ from Bharati Sherpa, wife of Chetan Manandhar, whom Regal had murdered, a bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma also ordered the government to provide security to the victim’s family.

The court has ordered the authorities to submit to it copies of all relevant decisions related to the case and ordered the Attorney-General to appear in the court in person on the day of the hearing.

President Ramchandra Paudel, acting on a recommendation from the Council of Ministers, had pardoned Regal on the occasion of the Constitution Day.

Manandhar’s family had objected to the presidential pardon and his wife had moved the apex court stating that the release was against the Constitution.

A gangster and the then president of Tarun Dal Banke-3, Regal used to extort transporters operating buses between Nepal and India. Regal had killed Manandhar at a hotel in Surkhet Road area on 13 July 2015. On 24 April 2018, a bench of Banke district court judge Bishnu Subedi had convicted Regal as the mastermind behind the crime and sentenced him to 20 years behind bars.

Regal, at large after the murder, had surrendered before the court after police launched a series of encounters against gangsters. 

Since the Supreme Court previously invalidated the appointment of Uddhav Thapa as Chief Minister of Koshi Province, the court’s judgment was quite clear. Actions prohibited directly are also prohibited indirectly under the law. The act of voting is restricted for the speaker or chair of the House unless it involves a tiebreaker vote.

The speaker must maintain a politically neutral and unbiased stance, other arguments are flawed reasoning. Israil Mansuri, despite not being the elected speaker, should adhere to the speaker’s protocols since he is presiding over the assembly proceedings as the speaker.

In other countries, this situation could lead to legal action as it goes against the system and violates the Constitution.

The only viable solution is to dissolve the Koshi assembly and go for fresh polls, as it appears unlikely for any coalition to form a government. The assembly should not be made hostile for a long time.

The author is constitutional lawyer

The Supreme Court on Sunday issued an order, paving the way for bringing top decision-makers of the time, including former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai, under the purview of police investigation in connection with the Lalita Niwas land-grab—the transfer of ownership of government land located at Baluwatar to individuals. 

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had confirmed earlier that the transfer of the land to individuals began during the prime ministership of Nepal and Bhattarai.  

But the CIAA had exonerated Nepal and Bhattarai in the case, pointing that investigation into the two prime ministers’ cabinet decisions were collective policy decisions that were beyond its jurisdiction. In the wake of reports leveling charges against them in connection with the case, Bhattarai and Nepal had said that they were innocent. 

Sunday’s order came from a division bench of justices Anil Kumar Sinha and Kumar Chudal in response to a habeas corpus petition from Yog Raj Paudel, one of the accused in the scam that has already brought 17 people under its net as a police probe continues. 

The top court instructed that high officials involved in making Cabinet decisions and senior ministry level officials involved in the decision-making process related to the transfer of the government land also be brought under investigation, citing decisions made on 11 April 2010, 14 May 2010, 13 August 2010 and 4 October 2012 without further delay.   

Those implicated in the case so far include Communications Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut, Bhatbhateni Supermarket Chairman Min Bahadur Gurung, former election commissioner Sudhir Kumar Shah, Dharma Prasad Gautam, Gopal Karki, Shivaji Bhattarai, Ghaman Kumari Karki, Baburaja Maharjan, Ramesh Kumar Pokharel, Dev Narayan Maharjan, Lokhari Ghimire, Dhruba Prasad Aryal, Krishna Bahadur Raut, Yograj Paudel, Narayandas Mishra, Rudra Prasad Shrestha, Bal Krishna Shrestha and Binod Paudel.