KATHMANDU, Jan 27: Former Supreme Court Justice Krishna Kumar Barma died of depression Tuesday morning, according to Barma’s daughter-in-law Sarita Barma. He was 69.
Sarita told myrepublica.com that Barma, who resigned from the post of the apex court judge over Robinson scandal in 2004, was suffering from the illness for a long time. He is survived by a son and three daughters.
Robinson scandal is one of the most infamous that the Nepali judiciary faced in recent years. It started after a division bench comprising Barma and another justice Bali Ram Kumar acquitted British national Gordon William Robinson of drug smuggling charges though Robinson had earlier been sentenced to 17 years jail and fine of US $24,125 by lower courts.
Arrested at the Tribhuvan International Airport with 2.3 kg of heroin in his baggage, Robinson, an international drug smuggler featuring on the Interpol’s most-wanted list, was acquitted by the justices on ground that there was no sufficient evidence to prove the crime. Robinson left Nepal following the controversial verdict. He reportedly died the same year.
The scandal, which spanned for more than six months, ended after the justice duo resigned under pressure from the media, civil society and Nepal Bar Association (NBA). A Judicial Council committee and NBA committee had separately found the acquittal verdict flawed.
It is widely believed by the legal community that people’s faith on the institution nose-dived following the controversy.
According to Sarita, Barma will be cremated Tuesday afternoon.
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