KATHMANDU, June 4: The Supreme Court (SC) of Nepal has cleared the way for legal proceedings against former Speaker Agni Sapkota in a murder case, overturning a previous decision made by the Cabinet led by then Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai not to take any legal action against him.
A constitutional bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut and Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Kumar Regmi, Manoj Kumar Sharma, and Kumar Chudal issued a writ on Wednesday, allowing the previously stalled investigation to move forward.
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The case is linked to the decade-long armed conflict. Sapkota is accused of involvement in the abduction and murder of 48-year-old Arjun Lama of Kavre district. Lama’s wife, Purnimaya Lama, had filed a complaint at the Kavre District Police Office in 2007, but police refused to register it. She later filed a writ at the Supreme Court, which on March 10, 2008 ordered the police to register the complaint and proceed according to the law.
Following that order, the case was under police investigation and an arrest warrant was also issued. However, in 2012 , the Cabinet decided to halt the case, placing the complaint in suspension.
Purnimaya Lama then challenged the Cabinet’s decision in court. With Wednesday’s ruling, the suspension has been annulled and the complaint can now be fully investigated, paving the way for a possible prosecution, according to advocate Om Prakash Aryal.
