The two have been taken into custody as Thapa´s statement in response to a contempt of court charge could not be completed Wednesday. The division bench of Justices Balaram KC and Ram Kumar Prasad Sah ordered their detention. The cross-examination will resume on Thursday. [break]
The two are being detained at the Metropolitan Police Sector Office, Singha Durbar.
"The bench hereby orders police officers to detain the duo as the cross-examination could not be completed today," reads the order adding, "The bench also orders police officers to present them before the bench on Thursday by 10 am to continue the cross-examination."
The SC on Sunday had ordered them to appear in court in three days after a contempt of court case was filed against them for lashing out against the justices who handed down the verdict on French national Sobhraj.
Reacting to the court´s verdict last Friday, Thapa, who is herself a lawyer, and Biswas had termed the justices, who upheld Sobhraj´s life-sentencing by lower courts, ´corrupt´ and ´biased´.
"We were supporting the court and we were not absconding either," said Nihita and her mother following the court order to detain them, adding, "The bench´s order to detain us is completely ´biased´".
Before boarding the police van, both Thapa and her daughter Nihita repeatedly asked journalists not ask them provocative questions, saying they are already in enough trouble because of such questions.
"We have already realized that we should not have lashed out against the justices and the court in such fashion last Friday," said Nihita, adding, "The bench has ordered police officers to detain us despite our realization of our mistake. It seems the justices are out to take personal revenge against us."
Before the detention order, the bench cross-examined Thapa regarding the contempt of court case. There was an altercation between Thapa and Justice Ram Kumar Prasad Sah during the cross-examination after Thapa started giving answers other than sought by the bench.
The bench assistant, under the supervision of Justices KC and Sah, asked Thapa if she knew about the ethics that a lawyer should follow while commenting on a court verdict.
Thapa said she knew the ethics but that ethics did not work that day when she was commenting on the Sobhraj verdict. She then tried to defend herself saying her mind was not working properly.
When the bench assistant asked her what exactly she knew about the ethics, Thapa got angry and said, "It seems you are taking my examination. Your questions are biased. I am not giving the Bar Exams. Your questions shouldn´t be biased."
Responding to her comments, Justice Sah said they were not asking her biased questions. He also instructed her to limit her answers to the questions asked and not go into uncalled for details.
In response, Thapa answered satirically, "I know the ethics requiring lawyers to remain silent no matter how seriously their clients are hurt."
The bench assistant asked Thapa about the estimated number of cases she has handled during her legal career and Thapa got angry again. "I think I should give you my bio-data. I can´t give the number of cases I´ve handled to date. I worked as a legal consultant for national and international institutions. I handled innumerable cases."
Justice Sah was not satisfied with her answer and requested her to give at least an estimated number of cases and not mention where she worked as a legal consultant.
Again the bench assistant asked if she remembered how she commented against the court verdict and whether her comments constituted contempt of court.
"I was shocked to learn the verdict against Sobhraj. My daughter Nihita fainted inside the court after hearing the verdict. My mind was not working properly. I couldn´t remember what I should say and what I should not given my state of mind at the time," she said, adding, "I had lost my mind. I don´t know what I spoke that day. The words I uttered were not my words. I respect the court and the justices."
The bench will cross-examine Thapa and her daughter again on Thursday.
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