KATHMANDU, Feb 19: The Supreme Court has rejected a plea by a suspended judge, who challenged his suspension and prosecution over the Lalita Niwas land scam case against him.

A single bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma rejected the plea of suspended Chitwan District Court Judge Binod Kumar Gautam upholding his suspension and prosecution over the scam. The apex court handed down the order on Monday.

The apex court annulled his writ petition even without issuing show-cause notice against the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), which has named him as one of the defendants in a case filed at the Special Court. On February 6, the anti-graft body had prosecuted 175 individuals including Gautam.

Gautam had challenged his prosecution claiming that as a judge he had immunity and that the CIAA had acted erroneously in prosecuting him over something he did in his previous capacity as under secretary. The anti-graft body had prosecuted him for giving legal opinion when he was under secretary at the legal section of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Town Development in relation to Lalita Niwas land scam.

 
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