Just when the Lalita Niwas Land Grab Scam looked like it had fizzled out, the Supreme Court has issued a show cause notice to the government demanding to know why a case was not filed against two former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai and former chief secretary Lilamani Paudel in the scandal. On August 28, the District Attorney Office of Kathmandu had filed a case of forgery of government documents at the Kathmandu District Court against 289 individuals in the land grab scam. They, together with 21 others who are already dead, are accused of falsifying government documents to transfer 143 ropanis of government-owned land at Baluwatar into private ownership over a period of time. However, the two prime ministers and the chief secretary were not indicted even though the four Cabinet decisions they took between April 2010 and October 2012 were responsible for the transfer of Baluwatar land into private property.

In early August, the Supreme Court had ordered a probe against those at the top of the pyramid of the scam as well, including those who were directly involved in taking the Cabinet decisions and those implementing them, apart from those who prepared the notings on behalf of the concerned ministry. Following this, the police also interrogated the two prime ministers, but refused to prosecute them, naming the two as mere government witnesses in the case. But others were not that lucky although they too held high positions. Those who were indicted by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) include a former deputy prime minister, four former ministers, six former secretaries, an incumbent secretary and a joint-secretary alongwith dozens of government employees, middle-men, land mafia and businessmen. Nepal and Bhattarai were spared, largely due to government intervention, although the decision taken by Nepal's Cabinet had allowed the transfer of government land to individuals while the Bhattarai-led Cabinet decision made it possible to register the land in the name of a fake trust – Pashupati Tikinchha Guthi – with fake tenants. Successive governments are also at fault for not invalidate the appellate court verdict of 2000 that ruled Lalita Niwas land was individual property, with the tenants having right to half the share of the property.

However, it has come to light that at the time of pooling Lalita Niwas land, it was total government property with no tenants.

It is apparent that the government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has used all its powers to shield the two former prime ministers and the former chief secretary for political reasons. Their support is crucial for the survival of the incumbent coalition government, with Nepal now leading the CPN (Unified Socialist) and Bhattarai leading the Nepal Samajwadi Party. But by not prosecuting the two exprime ministers, it is doing great injustice to the others who were indicted for implementing the Cabinet decisions taken by the two. The only way to provide justice for all is for the Supreme Court to remain undeterred and pursue with the interrogation of Nepal and Bhattarai to learn what role they played in transferring government land to influential individuals.

NHRC's monitoring

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has decided to monitor all eight juvenile correctional centres established across the country following the recent violence in these homes managed by a non-governmental organisation. The rights body took this initiative after two boys died in the Bhaktapur and Banke-based correctional centres a few weeks ago due to negligence of the officials in their timely treatment. The NHRC has written to its branch offices in all the provinces to carry out on-the-site inspection about the condition of all juvenile correctional centres.

According to the Department of Prison Management, around 1,150 children below 18 years of age are doing time in the correctional homes for their involvement in juvenile delinquencies. A minor who commit crimes punishable by law is kept in the juvenile correction centres, instead of jail as per the court order. However, most of the juvenile centres are acting just like a regular prison. A juvenile correction centre means the juvenile delinquents are given proper education and health facility so that they can lead a normal life in society after they are freed from the correctional centre. The Department of Prison Management must perform its duty without fail as per the court order.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 28, 2023, of The Himalayan Times