KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court today scrapped a rigid provision of Human Trafficking Act, 2007, which requires persons involved in human trafficking to be jailed. A three-member full bench comprising Chief Justice Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, justices Anup Raj Sharma and Sushila Karki scrapped the Act following a hearing today, stating that the provision was irrelevant in the justice system of Nepal. The bench stated that the particular provision was not required as the Muluki Ain,1963, in relation to the detention of accused during the trial was sufficient. “The provision regarding the prosecution of criminals involved in such a crime is sufficient, and so is No 118 of the Court Procedure Chapter of the Muluki Ain,” the bench observed. The bench nullified the Section 8 of the 2007 Act stating that the provision had no rationale in relation to the prosecution of the offenders, as it requires that the accused be jailed only after lodging the chargesheet in a court of law. Calling the provision arbitrary and against the criminal justice system and the fundamental rights enshrined in the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007, advocate Kamalesh Dwevedi had filed the writ petition seeking an apex court intervention on February 20, 2008. The petitioner claimed that the Section violated the right to equality, right to fair trial and right to criminal justice, as enshrined in Article 13 (1) and 24 of the Interim Constitution. The petitioner stated that the Evidence Act, 1974 and the Government Case Act, 1992 require that the burden of proof lies on the government prosecutor in the cases listed as government cases.