Kathmandu, Sept 26: The Supreme Court (SC) has sought government’s response in writing on why cases were not lodged against former prime minister duo Madhav Kumar Nepal and Dr Baburam Bhattarai in connection with the Lalita Niwas land scam.
A single bench of Justice Binod Sharma on Tuesday issued a show cause notice in the name of government over the matter after a preliminary hearing on a writ petition.
Senior Advocate Bal Krishna Neupane had filed the writ petition at the SC stating that the former prime minister duo were given exemption in the Lalita Niwas land scam.
Likewise, the SC has also ordered to submit two other writ petitions together that were filed before that demanded to register the supplementary charge sheet against the two former PMs Dr Bhattarai and Nepal.
286 people defendants
In the Lalita Niwas land grabbing case, Nepal Police have recommended that 286 people be made defendants. Since the remaining 21 people involved in it have died, it has given an opinion to claim from their relatives’ property.
In the investigation report submitted by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the police to the District Public Prosecutor’s Office, Kathmandu, Ram Kumar Subedi, his wife Madhavi Subedi, Shobhakant Dhakal, former Election Commissioner Sudhir Kumar Shah, the then Ward Secretary of Kathmandu-5 Shivji Bhattarai have been recommended as defendants. They have been arrested.
The CIB has given an opinion to make former official Rudra Kumar Shrestha of Land Reforms and Administration Department, Balkrishna Shrestha, the then Senior Divisional Engineer of Urban Development and Housing Construction Department, Kaladhar Deuja, the head of the Land Office at the time, as defendants.
The CIB has also asked to file a case against the then Secretary of the Ministry of Land Reforms and Administration Rabindraman Joshi, Dineshhari Adhikari, the then Secretary of the Ministry of Land Reforms Yuvraj Bhusal.
The CIB has given an opinion to make former Minister of Land Reform Chandradev Joshi, Dumbar Shrestha, Minister of Physical Planning and Construction Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, Minister of State Sanjay Kumar Sah and others as defendants.
