Kathmandu, September 3

The Supreme Court today ordered the government to release Khadga Prasad Bishwakarma, spokesperson for Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal objecting to the repeated arrest of Bishwakarma.

This is the third time the SC has ordered the government to release Bishwakarma from police custody terming his detention illegal.  A division bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla and Tanka Bahadur Moktan issued the writ saying its serious attention has been drawn to defiance of the court’s order by legal bodies.

This court orders the government to release Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma in the presence of Nuwakot district judge and submit the release files to this court, the SC observed in its order.

The bench observed that the SC had twice ordered the government to release Bishwakarma from custody in two similar habeas corpus writ petitions filed in recent weeks, yet the police illegally detained him for the third time. The bench said there were no legal grounds to arrest Bishwakarma.

The court stated that Bishwakarma was arrested for the third time on August 23, but he was given an arrest warrant only the next day and the police sought permission from Nuwakot district judge to arrest him the same day.

The bench also said that Nuwakot district court did not state reasons and bases for giving  permission for Bishwakarma’s as mandated by  section 9 (1) (2) and (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code Act, 2017.  The bench said there was no situation consistent with Section 6 of the same act that could justify Bishwakarma’s detention.

Bishwakarma’s brother Birendra had filed the petition, saying police had illegally arrested his brother for the third time and detained him in Nuwakot District Police Office.

Police had arrested Bishwakarma for the first time on August 7 on charges of seeking donation illegally. However, in response to a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Bishwakarma, the Supreme Court had termed his detention illegal and ordered the government on August 17 to release him from custody. He was rearrested the same day on the charge of arson and organised crime. He was arrested for the third time on August 23.