Dhangadi, January 5

With the original case files stuck at the Supreme Court, verdict on Tikapur carnage, in which eight persons were killed, has been delayed .

District court staffer Indra Bahadur Kathayat said the hearing date was not fixed as the original documents related to the case were yet to come from the apex court. “The court finished recording statements of 90 people, including plaintiffs and

defendants, but the court has not been able to fix the hearing date as the original documents are at the Supreme Court.

Kailali District Court had issued order to keep lawmaker Resham Chaudhary in custody after he surrendered on 26 February 2018. After the court diktat, Chaudhary had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court demanding that the district court order be reversed and he be freed on bail or general date.

The district court had sent the original documents related to all the accused to the apex court on 24 August  2018 after it demanded the documents to conduct hearing on Chaudhary’s petition.

The apex court has yet to issue an order on Chaudhary’s petition.

“Eight persons, including an SSP and one minor, were killed during Tharuhat agitation on 24 August 2015. A charge sheet was filed against 58 persons on 22 September  2015. Till date, 27 persons including Tharuhat agitation leaders Chaudhary, Laxman Tharu and Lahuram Chaudhary have been arrested. Of the arrested, two minors are at a rehabilitation centre in Pokhara. Twenty-four of the accused are in Kailali prison while 31 are still at large.

Resham, who was in hiding in India, was elected to the House of Representatives from Kailali-1. He had contested the polls from Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal. After his election to the House of Representatives, Chaudhary had surrendered before the court.

The court said it had completed recording statements of 90 persons.

Advocate Gambhir Singh Air said the apex court’s delay in sending the original files to the district court had delayed delivery of justice.

He said, “If the original documents are sent from the apex court, it will not take more than two weeks for the district court to issue its verdict.”