The apex court returned the case to the Special Court, a tribunal that takes up corruption cases, as the case was presented before the former for final hearing. The apex court was supposed to examine the Special Court´s decision to quash the corruption case against Joshi on grounds of statute of limitations. [break]
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had asked the SC to review the case after judges Bhupadhoj Adhikari, Komalnath Sharma and Cholendra SJB Rana of the Special Court quashed the graft case, observing that the case was not filed within a year after Joshi quit the public office.
Taking up the CIAA plea on Sunday, a division bench of Justice Sushila Karki and Tarka Raj Bhatta directed the Special Court to start a fresh hearing on the case, observing that the rule of statute of limitations does not apply to corruption cases. The bench further ruled that no corruption case can be scrapped on the basis of statute of limitations.
This is the second time the apex court has returned corruption-related case to the Special Court for a fresh hearing. Earlier, the SC on November 12 had asked the Special Court to re-open the cases against former police chiefs Moti Lal Bohara and Achyut Krishna Kharel, on similar grounds.
The Special Court, invoking the CIAA Act 2048 BS, had quashed a number of corruption cases involving influential politicians and former ministers.
The order issued by SC with regard to Joshi´s case is in line with the precedents set in the case of Bohara and Kharel, said Hemanta Rawal, Deputy Spokesperson at the Supreme Court.
The CIAA had filed a corruption case against Joshi in December 2003 accusing him of amassing property worth Rs.39.2 million through illegal means.
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