KATHMANDU, JULY 22

The Supreme Court has released the full text of its judgement passed in the homicide case filed against former DIG of Armed Police Force Ranjan Koirala, ruling that commuting the convict's sentence was wrong as he had killed his wife in cold blooded and tried to destroy evidence of the crime.

The decision was passed by a full bench of then Acting Chief Justice Deepak Kumar Karki and Justices Tanka Bahadur Moktan and Kumar Chudal.

Koirala, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his wife Geeta Dhakal, had walked out of jail on 23 July 2020 after serving only eight-and-a half years in prison, after a division bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana and Justice Tej Bahadur KC commuted his sentence on 29 June 2020, invoking Section 188 of Court Management of erstwhile Country Code (Muluki Ain) and Section 17 (a) of Criminal Offence (Determination of Punishment and Implementation) Act, 2017.

Rana had drawn the ire of jurists, political leaders, civil society members and the public for commuting Koirala's sentence. The apex court said that a convict's sentence could be commuted only if the deciding judge is of the view that life sentence would be too much for the convict and a reduced sentence would serve the purpose of justice.

A judge who commutes a convict's sentence must give objective reasons and justifications for the same and he/she cannot reduce a convict's sentence just because he/ she deems it fit, the apex court ruled in its judgement.

The court said a hostile family environment was created by Koirala due to his extra marital affair and Geeta Dhakal was a victim of the worst kind of domestic violence.

Dhakal had lodged her complaint at multiple government agencies, including the Prime Minister's Office and National Women's Commission.

The offence (Corpus delicti) was proved beyond doubt.

The court observed the fact that Koirala did not inform the APF after returning from China in the middle of a training programme indicated that he had hidden motive to kill Dhakal. The court also observed that Koirala's statement in the court that Dhakal died accidentally as her head got slammed into a wall when he pushed her after a scuffle was an attempt to mislead the investigation. The court said that Koirala later lodged com-plaint with the bodies concerned seeking to find Dhakal, and all his actions: not informing the APF after returning from China in the middle of the training and driving to Makawanpur to dump the victim's body formed the chain of elements of crime - actus reus (criminal act) and means rea (malicious intent) and preparation.

Stating that the convict tried to destroy evidence of the crime, the court said it was a planned heinous crime and there was no need to invoke mercy clauses of Section 188 of the erstwhile Muluki Ain and Section 17 (a) of Muluki Criminal Procedure Code. The bench observed that since a judge's decision was public property, a judge cannot commute somebody's sentence just because he/ she deems it fit.

The court said that commutation of sentence under Rule 29 of Prison Regulation was for prisons to decide and the court could not invoke it to reduce a convict's jail term. Even the prisons can invoke the rule only in an objective manner, giving convincing reasons of good character of a convict in the jail.

The bench of then CJ Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana and Justice Tej Bahadur KC had commuted Koirala's sentence observing that life imprisonment for Koirala was too much and he should be released to take care of his children. The verdict had caused public outcry and former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai had demanded that the justices who delivered the verdict be impeached.

The case was heard again after the SC granted leave for judicial review.

Normally, an SC verdict is final, but the SC grants leave of judicial review when it thinks that a particular judgment has gone against its own precedent and when new evidence emerges in the case. Koirala had been serving his sentence since 22 January 2012, the day he was arrested on the charge of murdering his wife at their Budhanilkantha residence.

According to the case file, Koirala later took his wife's body to Tistung in Makawanpur district and burnt it to destroy evidence.

Kathmandu District Court held Koirala guilty of murdering his wife, condemning him to life imprisonment with confiscation of his entire property. Life imprisonment in Koirala's case is a 20-year jail sentence as per the old Country Code that was in effect then. The Appellate Court had later upheld the district court's verdict.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 23, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.