KATHMANDU, June 28: A nine-member full bench of justices of the Supreme Court (SC) will decide on the contempt of court case against Sidhakura. The Hearing Management Directive Committee consisting of the Chief Justice Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha and two senior justices decided to pass a verdict on the contempt of court case against Sidhakura by a full bench of nine justices.

“The decision to have nine justices was made by the Hearing Management Directive Committee,” the SC’s Information Officer Govinda Ghimire told Republica. He said, “The date of the hearing has not been decided yet. Probably, it will only be after July.”

After the hearing by a joint bench of the Supreme Court, the re-registration process should be started to send it to a full bench. Spokesperson Bed Prasad Upreti said that the registration process is going on in the Supreme Court.  Upreti informed Republica that the registration process is going on. 

For the first time on 23rd April 2024, Sidhakura published an audio- video clip and news materials on an online portal, YouTube channel, and social networking sites.

Justice Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai who has not been part of controversy in his 43-year-long career as a judge, was thought to be involved in the meeting named as a 'sting operation'. Justices who were supposed to dismiss 400 corruption cases were suspected to be involved in the operation. 

Apart from that, the Supreme Court's decision was influenced by a controversial ruling regarding the legality of a sting operation. The court declared that the sting operation conducted by authorities, which involved paying money, was illegal. This decision stemmed from a conversation that took place at the Annapurna Post's central office in Tinkune. In the audio clip, the names of a former chief justice who retired from the Supreme Court, Kantipur Media Group’s Head Kailash Sirohiya, Annapurna Post Daily Head Rameshwor Thapa and the Senior Advocate Hari Prasad Upreti were taken.  

Among the individuals named in the controversy, former justice Dr Bhattarai, senior advocate Upreti, and media owners have raised objections. However, former Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher JB Rana did not object.

The audio released by Sidhakura has been verified as 'fake' by the Forensic Science Laboratory of Nepal Police. The Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police is investigating the origin and purpose of the audio. A Supreme Court official believes the Bureau's investigation report will be available before the verdict. Additionally, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police formed a committee to investigate 'The Dark File,' which also confirmed that the audio file was fake and submitted this report to the Supreme Court through the Attorney General's Office.

After receiving the forensic laboratory report from the police, on June 12, Justices Dr Kumar Chudal and Vinosh Sharma ordered that the contempt case be heard by a full bench due to its seriousness. Previously, a contempt of court case against Kantipur Media was decided by a seven-member full bench. For this case, it has been decided to form a nine-member comprehensive bench to ensure a decision from a larger panel.

The order also mandated that the entire file be submitted to the court the day before the hearing by the full bench, if necessary, for investigation purposes.

 
• Sidhakura
 
• SC