Kathmandu, September 2, 2006

The 10th South Asian Games double gold medallist Rajendra Bhandari of the Nepali Army has tested positive for the banned drug Norandrosterone.

Bhandari, who won the 5,000m gold medal with SAG record of 14 minutes 1.19 seconds on August 25 and 3,000m Steeplecahse with the national record of eight minutes 51.76 seconds on August 26, tested positive in ‘A’ sample, said Jeewan Ram Shrestha, member secretary of National Sports Council (NSC) and chef-demission of the Nepali contingent in the 10th SAG held in Sri Lanka last month.

If tested positive in ‘B’ sample, Bhandari will at least be stripped of the gold medals. “We got the report from the Nepal Olympic Committee this morning,” Shrestha said at a press meet today.

According to the analysis report, Bhandari’s sample “was found to contain 19-Norandrosterone greater than the threshold of 2mg/ml.” The report also said that the urine sample was analysed using eight different methods.

Dr Ajay Rana, medical department chief at the council, said the drug is normally used for performance enhancing. “One can use the drug for muscle strengthening purposes or for medical purposes but under hospital guidance,” he said.

SC tells govt, House to justify May 18 declaration

The Supreme Court today issued show cause notices to the government and the House of Representatives demanding reasons why the House had declared itself on May 18 the supreme and sovereign body of the nation going against the 1990 constitution.

The House on May 18 had also stripped the powers of the King enjoyed under the 1990 Constitution. A single bench of Justice Damodar Prasad Sharma issued the order responding to five writ petitions challenging the declaration by the House.

The bench ordered the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the House of Representatives, Speaker Subas Nembang and the Ministry of Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to clarify in writing about the House declaration within 15 days.

“Since there are some constitutional issues to be tested by the bench, issues which also affect the independence of the judiciary, show cause notices were issued,” Justice Sharma said while announcing the order.

The bench, however, upheld the revival of the House by the King on April 24 as per the doctrine of necessity. The bench ruling came in response to separate writ petitions filed by advocates Achyut Prasad Kharel, Shree Prasad Upadhyay, Amita Shrestha and Arun Subedi.

“Since the House was revived under doctrine of necessity there is no need to test the royal address on April 24 that reinstated the House,” Justice Sharma observed.