KATHMANDU: Rajiv Gurung (popularly known by the alias Deepak Manange), a member of the Gandaki Provincial Assembly, has been disqualified from his position following a verdict by the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of Nepal.
The bench, led by Chief Justice Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha and comprising Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Phuyal, and Kumar Chudal, ruled that Manange was ineligible to hold public office due to a criminal conviction with a final verdict already issued.
The decision, announced on Tuesday, stated that Manange’s position as a provincial lawmaker is invalid with immediate effect.
The court concluded that he was already ineligible during the 2022 provincial elections due to a prior conviction. Manange had been sentenced to five years in prison and is currently serving time at Dillibazar Jail in Kathmandu.
Manange, a former minister and two-term provincial assembly member, was convicted in connection with a 2004 attempted murder case. He and his gang had attacked rival gang leader “Chakre Milan” with a sword.
The Patan Appellate Court in 2012 sentenced him to five years in prison for attempted murder. After serving two years and eight months in jail, he was released on bail in 2018 pending an appeal.
Despite the case being under judicial review, Manange held ministerial positions and remained active in provincial politics. However, in November 2024, he was arrested again in Kathmandu. The Supreme Court upheld the Patan High Court’s five-year sentence in March 2025, leading to his re-incarceration.
As he has already served part of his sentence, Manange is now required to serve the remaining one year of his prison term.
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