KATHMANDU, Sept 10: Member of the Lumbini Provincial Assembly, Dhan Bahadur KC, who had been sent to prison on Sunday for a 33-year-old forgery case, was released from the Rukum West Jail on Monday afternoon. Lawmaker KC of Rukum East 1 (B) constituency was sent to jail for a one-year sentence after he surrendered to the court on Sunday afternoon.

According to a source in the Rukum West jail, KC arrived at the prison late in the night on Sunday and was released at 12:30 am on Monday following an order from the Rukum East court.  KC was elected from the provincial constituency as a candidate of the Nepali Congress party in the last general election. 

Officials from the district court informed Republica that KC was released on the basis of the provision 155 of the National Criminal Procedure Code 2017 whereby he can opt to pay a fine instead of serving the jail term. 

“The Rukum East District Court used the provision 155 of the National Criminal Procedure Code 2017 to decide that KC can pay a fine of Rs 300 per day of imprisonment instead of serving the jail term,”  record keeper of the court Radha Krishna Rijal told Republica, “As per the order of the court, the prison released KC on Monday.”

As per the provision 155 of the National Criminal Procedure Code 2017, considering the age, gravity and manner of the offence, and the general conduct of a first-time offender in any offence punishable by a jail term of one year or less, the court can consider it appropriate to ask the offender to pay fine of Rs 300 per day of the decided jail term in lieu of the imprisonment. In such cases, the court asks for a deed to be executed by the offender that they will not commit any kind of offence henceforth and will comply with good conduct. It remains unclear when and how lawmaker KC was able to sign such a legal deed from the prison and send it to another district’s court overnight prior to his release. 

Legal experts claimed that the quick release after imprisonment of a sitting provincial lawmaker of the ruling party sends a negative message about the status of rule of law and democracy in the nation. “Although the court sees the matter through legal lens, the socio-political effect of such an order is that the general public loses confidence in the rule of law and democracy,” senior advocate Ananta Raj Luitel told Republica, “In addition, the case also highlights the lack of scrutiny from the voters while choosing a candidate during election.” He added that these two aspects of the case also reflect the pathetic situation of good governance in the country.

Earlier in the day, the Assistant Chief District Officer of Rukum West Binod Regmi told Republica that the District Administration Office (DAO) had not been notified about KC’s arrival at the jail.

"Once the order to send someone to prison is issued, we expect the prisoner to arrive at the jail and the jail, consequently, to notify the DAO of the arrival of the offender,” he told Republica, “However, we have not received the official document about the prisoner’s arrival."

On June 23, 1991, the former Rukum District Court had convicted KC in a forgery case related to a property dispute with his wife, slapping a one-year jail-term and imposing a fine of Rs 2,000. According to chief of the District Police Office (DPO), Rukum East, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Madhav Kharel, lawmaker KC had posted a bail amount in 1991, out of which the Rs 2,000 fine had already been deducted but he had not served the sentence. He added that the DPO was informed of the case last year and the police had been searching for lawmaker KC since then but could not nab him because of his political connection.

 
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