KATHMANDU, JULY 21

The Supreme Court has ordered the government to release Secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology Krishna Bahadur Raut, who had been kept in custody since July 9 in a forgery and organised crime case.

A division bench of Justices Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Nahakul Subedi quashed the habeas corpus writ filed on behalf of Raut, but issued a writ of mandamus to the government to release him on general date. The bench ruled that there was no need to continue keeping Raut in custody till the investigation into the case was completed.

The court issued a writ of mandamus to the defendants telling them to release Raut on general court date in accordance with Section 15 of Muluki Criminal Procedure Code and complete the investigation as soon as possible.

The apex court told the government to release Raut on general date but to make sure that he does not leave the country without order from the court where his case is sub judice.

Stating that the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had decided on 5 February 2020 not to file a case against him in the Lalita Niwas land grab scam, the bench observed that it did notdraw any conclusion from the original investigation file that if he was not put in custody, investigation into the case could not move ahead effectively. Hence, there was no basis, reason and rationale for keeping him in custody.

The court observed that Raut's custody was not illegal as he has been kept in custody in accordance with an arrest warrant and Kathmandu District Court had repeatedly extended Raut's custody during investigation.

The court said that the current case was filed against Raut for preparing notings on 1 July 2010 when he was working as a section officer at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport.

The court will prepare the full text of the order later.

The bench, which also heard the habeas corpus writ petitions filed by Bhatbhateni Super Market owner Min Bahadur Gurung, a former election commissioner, and former employee of Land Revenue Office, Dillibazaar, Dharman Prasad Guatam, quashed their writ petitions.

This means that the police can continue to keep these people in custody while carrying out investigation into the forgery and organised crime case.

They were charged with forging government documents to unlawfully transfer public land at Lalita Niwas in Baluwatar to private individuals.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 22, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.