Kathmandu District Court orders authorities to release 15 defendants on bail, one released on one’s own recognizance

KATHMANDU, Sept 10: In the Lalita Niwas land-grab scam, the Kathmandu District Court has ordered the release of Min Bahadur Gurung along with 15 other defendants on bail on Sunday. Gurung was ordered to be released on a bail of Rs 24.6 million.

Moreover, one of the detainees Keshav Tuladhar has been ordered to be released on his own recognizance. 

According to the Information Officer of Kathmandu District Court, Deepak Dahal, a defendant put forward his arguments today. After that, the district attorney made a counter-argument. The order came after the arguments of the district government attorney. Earlier on Friday, lawyers had concluded arguments on behalf of 17 of the 18 defendants who were in police custody. The rest was debated by Lokhari Ghimire, the owner of the office of Samarjung Company.

After a week-long debate, the bench of Judge Bhola Dhakal issued the order. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) took two months to submit its report with its opinion to the District Government Attorney Office in mid-August. In the report, the police gave an opinion to prosecute the accused under organized crime and forgery. But the district attorney registered a case only against forgery of government documents.

The court demanded a bail of Rs 24.6 million from Gurung. Similarly, a bail of Rs 330,000 has been demanded from Shiva Ji Bhatta, Rs 750,000 from Gopal Karki, Rs 750,000 from Rudra Kumar Shrestha, Rs 750,000 from Bal Krishna Shrestha and Rs 150,000 from Kaladhar Deuja.

Similarly, a bail of Rs 750,000 has been demanded from Ghaman Kumar Karki, Rs 1.5 million from Binod Paudel, Rs 750,000 from Yograj Paudel, Rs 3.30 million from Dhruba Prasad Aryal, Rs 7.50 million with Narayan Raj Mishra, Rs 7.50 million from Arun Kumar Shrestha, Rs 1.10 million from Dev Narayan Maharjan and Baburaja Maharjan has been asked for a bail of Rs 110,000.

The District Government Attorney's Office has registered the case against 310 people for the forgery of government documents. Although the CIB spent 60 days investigating the incident for organized crime, the Attorney General registered a case against forgery saying that organized crime would not be applicable.

From 2049 BS to 2069 BS, 143 ropanis of land of Lalita Niwas were transferred in the name of individuals by creating a fake tenant. A case has been registered against former ministers, former secretaries, former officials, fake tenants, businessmen, and others in the land-grab scam.

The police recommended that 286 people, including former Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar, be prosecuted. The District Government Attorney's Office made 290 people as defendants. The person who returned the land has also been made a defendant.

In the case of Lalita Niwas, CIB arrested Bhat-Bhateni supermarket owner Gurung on August 6. So far, 21 people have been arrested in this case. 

 
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