KATHMANDU, APRIL 28
A group of lawmakers from all the parties have opposed the sick leave status of murder accused MP Laxmi Mahato Koiri.
Lawmakers opposed it when Speaker Ghimire announced the names of absent members of Parliament.
They have demanded that the absconding MP be detained as soon as possible as he has missed more than 21 sessions.
According to the lawmakers, fugitive MP Mahato is not sick and is hiding in India in his relative's house.
Chairman of Rastriya Swatantra Party and former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane commented that the fugitive MP of CPN-UML Lakshmi Mahato Koiri was a murder accused. He argued that the absconding MP could not be called a patient, mentioning that the question had been raised in the past even when he was the home minister. He said, "He is not sick. The accused is absconding. He is an accused who has escaped. His brother in law gave me information about his presence in India when I was the home minister."
He further said, "I have his picture and I can provide it to the security agencies. If the fugitive MP is given a sick leave status, that will be a mockery of democracy."
Similarly, NC lawmaker Ramesh Lekhak said, "It is clear that MP Mahato had not come to the meeting of the House of Representatives for a long time. And it is also evident that he is a murder accused and the court has ordered him to be sent to prison. Police are also looking for him and if he is found, he will have to go to prison for pre-trial detention. So, it is ridiculous of the speaker to propose that such person is on sick leave."
Likewise, Rastriya Janamorcha MP Chitra Bahadur KC demanded answer to the question how a person involved in crime could stay on sick leave. The MPs continued to protest over the issue of the MP taking sick leave despite being a fugitive. They also demanded that MP Mahato be removed from the records of the Parliament.
After that Speaker Ghimire adjourned the meeting of the House of Representatives for half-an-hour.
According to Speaker Devraj Ghimire, Mahato has been absent from 21 consecutive meetings. "Mahato has informed the Parliament Secretariat that he is undergoing medical treatment."
Earlier, When Rabi Lamichhane was the minister of Home Affairs, he had directed Nepal Police headquarters to arrest Koiri.
Despite being on the police's wanted list, Mahato attended the House meeting on January 10 and voted in favour of a trust motion tabled by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. He had also attended the oath-taking ceremony for new lawmakers.
Mahato, who was elected to the House of Representatives from Mahottari-1, has been accused of murdering Assistant Sub-inspector Thaman Bishwakarma during the Madhes protest.
Mahato is accused of dragging the policeman from a police van and killing him on 11 September 2015. Dhanusha District Court had freed Mahato on a bail of Rs 100,000. But Janakpur High Court had issued an arrest warrant against him after overturning the decision of the district court.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 29, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
