KATHMANDU: Senior advocate Sushil Pant has demanded that former Prime Minister and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chair Madhav Kumar Nepal be sent to judicial custody while the corruption case against him proceeds.
Pant, representing the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), made this argument during the ongoing detention debate at the Special Court on Wednesday. The case concerns the controversial decision made during Nepal’s premiership in 2009 to allow Patanjali Yogpeeth to acquire land in excess of legal ceiling limits in Sanga, Kavrepalanchok.
Nepal appeared before the Special Court earlier in the day to give his statement in the case. Following the statement, a joint bench comprising judges Tej Narayan Singh Rai, Ram Bahadur Thapa, and Bidur Koirala initiated the detention hearing.
Pant argued that the Cabinet decision to allow the land swap and sale to Patanjali was not a policy decision but rather a personal and interest-driven one. “This was not a policy matter; it was executed under direct orders of the then prime minister,” Pant said. “Such a serious crime that caused significant harm to the state should proceed only after placing him in judicial custody.”
Nepal is being defended by a legal team of over 100 lawyers, including senior advocates Shambhu Thapa, Gopal Krishna Ghimire, Govinda Bandi, and Khamba Bahadur Khati.
The CIAA filed the corruption case on June 5 against Nepal and 92 others, alleging abuse of authority, illegal land transfers, and embezzlement of public property. The commission has demanded a fine of over Rs 185.8 million from Nepal along with corresponding punishment. Following the charges, he has been suspended from his position as a Member of Parliament.
The decision in question was taken during a Cabinet meeting in 2009, when Nepal was serving as prime minister. The CIAA has alleged that the decision enabled the acquisition of land beyond legal limits, amounting to a misuse of public property.
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