Kathmandu, March 9: The Supreme Court on Thursday deferred a hearing in writ petitions filed against Chairman of CPN (Maoist Centre) and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.
A single bench of Justice Bishowambhar Shrestha was scheduled to hear the petitions filed at the apex court on Tuesday by advocates Gyanendra Aran and Kalyan Budhathoki. Both of them were seeking a criminal investigation against Prachanda over insurgency-era atrocities.
The hearing was postponed citing the court’s busy docket.
The writ petitioner has demanded that Prachanda be arrested on criminal charges and investigated based on the statement in a public program held in Tundikhel, Kathmandu, on January 15, 2020, that he would take responsibility for only 5,000 of the 17,000 people killed during 10-year’s armed conflict or People’s War waged by Maoist.
Previously, the Supreme Court administration decided that the application based on political expression could not be registered. However, a joint bench of Justices Ishwar Khatiwada and Hari Phuyal ordered to file the writ petition on Friday. The legal professionals registered a writ against Prime Minister Prachanda after receiving the court order.
Prachanda-led party CPN-Maoist Centre and its sister organizations have opposed the registration of writ saying that cases related to transitional justice should not be heard in regular courts.
According to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), they have demanded that the conflict-related incidents should be reported through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and not in regular courts.
The ruling party, eight parties of the Maoist line and Nepal Bar Association, an umbrella organization of lawyers, have also expressed their opposition to the writ filed against Chairman Prachanda.
