KATHMANDU: The Special Court has ordered the release of former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on a bail amount of Rs 3.5 million in connection with a corruption case involving the allocation of land to Patanjali Yogpeeth.
A joint bench of Special Court Judges Tej Narayan Singh Rai, Ram Bahadur Thapa, and Bidur Koirala issued the order on Wednesday following a detention hearing.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a corruption case against Nepal, accusing him of facilitating an illegal decision during his premiership that allowed Patanjali Yogpeeth to acquire land beyond the legal ceiling and later sell it for commercial purposes.
Representing the CIAA, Senior Advocate Sushil Pant and Special Government Prosecutors Mohan Sagar Basnyat, Bhagwati Devi Gautam, Umakant Paudel, and Gyan Prasad Bhusal argued that Nepal’s decision was administrative in nature and not a matter of public policy—thus constituting an act of corruption.
In defense of Nepal, Senior Advocate Shambhu Thapa and advocates Khamba Bahadur Khati, Krishna Prasad Bhandari, and Raman Shrestha presented arguments countering the prosecution’s claims.
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