SC orders release of Lalita Niwas land grab scam’s mastermind Dhakal

KATHMANDU, March 2: The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the government to release Shova Kanta Dhakal, one of the masterminds behind the Lalita Niwas land grab scam.

A joint bench of SC justices Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Til Prasad Shrestha issued an order to release Dhakal, who is currently in judicial custody.

Earlier, the Special Court had ordered the government to keep him in judicial custody for two years. Dhakal had knocked the doors of the Supreme Court against the Special Court order.

In the habeas corpus petition filed at the Supreme Court on February 10, Dhakal argued that he cannot be put in judicial custody for more than the jail term slapped against him.

A case of corruption against Dhakal is currently sub judice at the Special Court. Earlier, the opinion of justices Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai had differed on whether to keep him in judicial custody or not.

While Justice Khatiwada had suggested releasing Dhakal on a bail of Rs 30 million, Bhattarai had argued that Dhakal must be kept until the Special Court gives its verdict.

Police investigation revealed that Dhakal and Ram Kumar Subedi were the masterminds behind the illegal transfer of the government-owned land in the name of individuals. The investigation carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) said that the ownership of the government-owned land was illegally transferred in the name of various individuals by making forged documents in four different phases.

A number of political party leaders in association with high ranking government officials are found to have transferred the land ownership by creating bogus trusts during the years 1993, 2006, 2011 and 2013.

Earlier in 2020, the CIB took charge of investigating the land scam of Lalita Niwas that has a total of 114 ropanis of land plot. The prime minister’s official residence, the central office of Nepal Rastra Bank and other VIPs’ residences are currently within the Lalita Niwas land. The CIB had recommended taking action against 300 individuals including a number of VVIPs.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on February 5, 2020 filed corruption charges against 175 individuals in relation to the land grab in the heart of Kathmandu. A number of them have already been released by the court with or without bail.