The ministers´ move comes despite a Supreme Court (SC) stay order against a similar decision last year. The stay order is still in force. [break]
According to Law and Justice Minister Prem Bahadur Singh, a meeting held at the chambers of Home Minister Bhim Rawal and attended by eight other ministers decided to retract only cases filed out of political reasons.
"We are all aware of the SC order. We agreed to withdraw only cases filed for political reasons. It doesn´t mean that we are defying the SC order," said Law and Justice Minister Singh, adding, "Cases would be retracted only after assessing whether the local political mechanisms in various districts have recommended withdrawing the cases."
Minister Singh further clarified that they have not agreed to withdraw cases if local political mechanisms comprised of various political parties did not recommended withdrawal.
The government has already withdrawn nearly 1,500 cases of murder and arson over a two-year period under "political pressure", according to a highly-placed source at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA).
The MoHA source said that the fresh decision to withdraw cases was reached under intense pressure from Tarai-based parties. "Minister Rajendra Mahato pressured Home Minister Rawal to retract the cases at the earliest," said a source, adding, "Other ministers from Tarai communities also pressured us for the same."
The source said they cited political reasoning behind the decision.
“The prosecutions brought against the defendants were politically motivated´", a minister who participated in the meeting quoted Mahato as saying, adding, "If the cases are not withdrawn, there would be discrimination between Madhesi and other political parties."
Ministers Sharat Singh Bhandari, Minendra Rijal, Deepak Bohara, Damber Shrestha, Thakur Sharma, Rawal, Mahato and Singh were present at the meeting.
The meeting was called by Home Minister Rawal after he came under intense pressure from Tarai-based ministers to withdraw the cases.
The Law Ministry is the final authority which can, under request from the Ministry of Home Affairs, recommend to the cabinet to withdraw cases.
Asked about the possibility of retracting criminal cases on the grounds of their being political cases only, Minister Singh said, "We won´t do that."
The document concerning case withdrawal, which was filed at MoHA, shows that Tarai-based parties have demanded withdrawal of nearly 300 cases with immediate effect.
Earlier, the government had retracted murder and arson cases on grounds of their being political cases. The SC, after initial hearings on a writ filed by some lawyers, had issued a stay order to the government not to withdraw criminal cases on grounds of their being political, until it issued a further decision.
The case is still pending at the SC.
As per existing legal provisions, the government needs consent from the court concerned to withdraw a murder case. A district court is independent when it comes to endorsing a government decision to withdraw a case.
“The government´s decision to withdraw the cases will mature once the district courts concerned grant their approval,” reads the State Cases Act-1993.
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