KATHMANDU, April 30: Police have clarified that Resham Chaudhary, patron of the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP), was arrested to implement the verdict issued earlier by the Supreme Court (SC).
According to the Kathmandu Police Range, Chaudhary has been sent to Dillibazar jail following his arrest earlier today. “He was arrested to implement the Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict and the sentence issued against him,” a police official said.
During the Tharuhat movement on August 26, 2015, protesters brutally murdered eight people, including five Nepal Police personnel, two Armed Police Force officers, and a minor. All three tiers of the judiciary found Resham Chaudhary guilty of masterminding the massacre and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
NUP Patron Chaudhary released after brief detention
On May 16, 2023, the SC upheld Chaudhary’s life sentence through a brief order related to the same incident. However, President Ram Chandra Paudel granted him amnesty on May 29—before the full text of the verdict was released—upon the recommendation of the government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, coinciding with Republic Day.
The full text of the SC’s verdict was released three months later, on August 16, 2023. In the detailed ruling, the incident was described as a brutal, cruel, and inhumane act of murder. The verdict also raised questions regarding the legitimacy of the amnesty.
“To claim that matters involving violations of criminal law cannot be prosecuted under the due process of criminal justice merely because they are labeled as political agreements, political interests, or politically motivated crimes—or to withdraw such cases as part of political bargaining, or to grant amnesty in a manner that disregards established legal principles and values—is clearly against the country’s constitution, laws, and the basic principles of justice,” reads the full text of the verdict.
After the amnesty, Sharda Kadayat, the wife of APF Inspector Keshav Bohora—who was killed in the Tikapur incident—filed a writ petition at the SC challenging the amnesty. Although a show-cause order was issued in response, the case has yet to reach a final conclusion.
