The SC ordered arrest of Madhav Paudel and Hem Prasad Dhamala who faked an SC order by using forged letterhead, stamp and signature in a bid to lift a court ban on selling a land in Sunsari. [break]
SC Assistant Spokesperson Hemanta Rawal said the duo was arrested as they prepared a fake SC order using forged letterhead, stamps and signatures.
"We ordered the police to arrest them as they were found to have been involved in a scam using forged documents," Rawal said.
The forged SC order prepared by the duo and addressed to Sunsari District Court reads, "We [SC] hereby order to lift the ban on plot (Kitta) no 11, 32, 34, 35, 36 of section 1, plot no 9, 10, 11, 23 and plot no 71, 121 and 123 of the next section as ordered by the registrar in response to a plea of Matrika Prasad Pokharel."
The duo was preparing to dispatch the fake order to the Sunsari district court for implementation. According to conservative estimates, the land costs millions of rupees. "There could have been a scam of millions of rupees had their plan moved forward," Rawal said.
Paudel and Dhamala have also been found to have been using a lawyer in this case. "A lawyer came and asked for an SC envelope," Rawal said, adding, "But we were surprised when we saw the duplicate letterhead and stamp."
The forged letterhead reads ´Supreme Court of Nepal, Kathmandu´, but the original letterhead has only ´Supreme Court of Nepal´. Similarly, the duo mentioned the name of Hari Prasad Koirala of Administration Section of SC at the bottom of the forged order.
"But such an order can be issued only by the case handling section and not by the administrative section of the SC," Rawal said, adding, "Koirala does not belong to the case handling section but the administrative section."
As per the provision of civil code, the accused faces up to 11 years of jail term if convicted.
The duo has been kept at Metropolitan Police Sector Office, Singha Durbar. The SC refused to provide the name of the lawyer involved in the plot.
Asked about the possible action against the lawyer, Rawal said, "Let the investigation move forward first. If he is found guilty, we will definitely take action against him."
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