Kathmandu, July 12, 2005

Issuing a strong objection to the Kathmandu District Administration Office (KDAO), the Supreme Court today warned the Chief District Officer, Sushil Ghimire, and other employees to get ready to face action on charge of defying its order. The Supreme Court, issuing a letter to the KDAO, said that its officials who are responsible for furnishing details with regard to a habeas corpus have been defying the apex court’s order. “Clarify why action should not to be taken against officials who have been defying the order,” states the Supreme Court letter sent to the KDAO. Citing the order of the division bench of justices, Dilip Kumar Paudel and Sharada Prasad Pundit, the apex court administration also said that the KDAO officials had violated Article 95 of the Constitution by not furnishing the details as demanded by the bench in connection with a habeas corpus seeking the release of a Maoist suspect Chin Bahadur Gurung. On June 15, the Supreme Court had ordered the KDAO to furnish details within three days regarding the KDAO’s process to prosecute Chin Bahadur. “This is a gross defiance of Supreme Court order which results in waste of time of the apex court, injustice to the concerned person and negative impression of the public on judicial action,” the apex court observed.

Koirala wants India to come to Nepal’s aid

Kathmandu, July 12, 2005

Nepali Congress (NC) president, Girija Prasad Koirala, today told Lakhdar Brahimi, the visiting special adviser to the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, that cooperation from the international community, including India, was most essential in resolving the crisis. Leaders of political parties in a meeting today with Brahimi, talked about different lines of approach in resolving the current crisis and their expectations from the international community. Stating that Nepali crisis is a political problem, Koirala said he had sought international help for the political parties. “As he (Brahimi) will also meet the King, the entire development depends upon the response he gets from the monarch,” Koirala said. “Nothing can be achieved even if the King, the Maoists and the seven-party alliance come together. The need of the hour is that India and the international community must cooperate,” he added. However, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) chairman, Pashupati Shumsher Rana, said the solution to the crisis should be sought internally. He said the problem should be resolved with the “agreement, understanding and cooperation” among the constitutional forces, the King and the political parties. Though he wasn’t specific whether international help was necessary, he, however, said the problem should be resolved internally.