KATHMANDU, Dec 28: The case related to the misuse of diplomatic passports seven years ago has reached the Supreme Court. The joint bench of Chief Justice Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha and Justice Mahesh Sharma Paudel heard the case involving the misuse of red passports obtained as members of the then Constituent Assembly.

In the bench where 36 cases have been filed, it is now the turn of the seventh case related to red passports. Previously, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse Of Authority (CIAA) had registered this case at the Special Court.

The CIAA had filed the case at the Special Court against Constituent Assembly members Gopal Baniya, Dil Bahadur Gharti (known as Ashish), Naradamuni Rana, Nirmal Baniya, Devendra Poudel, Manoj Kumar Karki, Santosh Raj Upreti, Indra Kumar Sunuwar, Devi Dutta Khatri, Ramesh Lamsal, and Shyam Babu Bhandari for corruption through the misuse of their passports.

The Special Court convicted Constituent Assembly members Shivpujan Rai, Bishwanath Prasad Yadav, and Gayatri Shah, ruling that they had misused the red passports. They were sentenced to three months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 15,000 each. The other defendants were acquitted.

Both the government and the convicted individuals filed appeals at the Supreme Court against the acquittal. Dissatisfied with the Special Court's decision, the government filed an appeal at the Supreme Court on May 22, 2016. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) also filed an appeal, claiming that the Special Court verdict was flawed and arguing that charges should be confirmed against everyone, including CPN-UML leader and former MP Naradamuni Rana.

The CIAA further claimed that another individual had traveled abroad by altering the photos in the diplomatic passports of Constituent Assembly members MPs Yadav and Shah. In Rai's passport, a person named Kedarnath Sharma was accused of traveling abroad.

It was alleged that Devendra Poudel, Manoj Karki, Gopal Baniya, Dil Bahadur Gharti, and Santosh Raj Upreti aided in changing the photos on the passports.

 
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