KATHMANDU, June 27: The Supreme Court (SC) has postponed the verdict date for the murder case against former Speaker and CPN-Maoist Center spokesperson Agni Sapkota.

The Constitutional Bench of the SC had initially scheduled the verdict for Wednesday, but it was delayed due to the absence of one of the justices.

The hearing on the writ petition filed on the charge of murder of Arjun Lama from Kavre, concluded on June 5, with a decision date set. However, the absence of Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut, who was in Baglung for court inspections, caused the postponement.

The SC administration has announced that Justice Raut is expected to return by Sunday. Consequently, the case has been added to the postponed list, and the SC will reschedule the verdict date for the Constitutional Bench, likely on either Wednesday or Friday.

The bench, consisting of five justices, including the Chief Justice, is set to deliver a verdict. On June 5, the Constitutional Bench comprising Chief Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha and justices Prakashman Singh Raut, Sapana Pradhan Malla, Prakash Kumar Dhungana, and Kumar Regmi concluded the hearing and set the decision date for June 26.

In Justice Raut’s absence, another bench consisting of Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha, Sapana Pradhan Malla, Prakash Kumar Dhungana, Kumar Regmi, and Manoj Kumar Sharma was formed to hear other cases.

In November 2012, Purnimaya Lama, the wife of Arjun Lama, filed a writ petition at the SC demanding an investigation into the murder charges against Sapkota and other leaders. There are three such writ petitions at the SC. The petitioners have demanded that the SC issue an order to proceed with the investigation and arrest Sapkota. The respondents, however, argued that this incident falls under the jurisdiction of transitional justice mechanisms due to its occurrence during the conflict period. Arjun Lama was allegedly kidnapped and murdered on April 29, 2005.

 
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