By Our Reporter
Finally, the cases of corruption, as predicted by many, have been weakened by the initiatives of the top leaders of the big parties. It is evident from the release of all 18 persons who were in custody for their involvement in the Lalita Niwas land scam. The Kathmandu District Court on Sunday ordered to release 17 persons, including Min Bahadur Gurung, the owner of Bhatbhateni Supermarket, who were arrested in connection with the Lalita Niwas land scam, on bail, and one on a general date.
A single bench of Judge Bholanath Dhakal issued the order to release 17 individuals on bail and Keshav Tuladhar on a general date.
They were in judicial custody for two months.
Of the 17 released, Min Bahadur Gurung, had to pay the highest amount of bail at Rs. 24.6 million. Others sought bail amounts ranging from Rs, 330,000 to Rs. 1.5 million.
The District Government Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu, had filed a case of document forgery at the court on August 27. But later, the case turned into a cheating one, resulting in the release of all the detained individuals.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police had made 289 accused defendants, including sitting secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut, former ministers Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, Chandra Dev Joshi, Dambar Bahadur Shrestha and Chhavi Raj Panta.
The CIB also collected statements from former prime ministers Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and Madhav Kumar Nepal in the case. However, they did not file any case.
When the Supreme Court on August 6 ordered that the two former prime ministers could be interrogated, many suspected that the government would deliberately weaken the case. And it has been so.
The present government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal has done a laudable job by arresting and sending some corrupt individuals and leaders to jail for their alleged involvement in the Fake Bhutanese refugee scam and Laita Niwas scam. But when top politicians’ involvement was found in the Lalita Niwas case, the government did not dare to be strict enough.
Moreover, when the involvement of the powerful Maoist leaders and their sons is seen, the fate of the gold smuggling case is likely to be like that of the Lalita Niwas case. The government did not dare imprison Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Barsha Man Pun, who were in contact with the Chinese nationals arrested in the gold smuggling case.
When NC leader Bal Krishna Khand is already in jail in the fake Bhutanese case and the involvement of Arzu Rana is suspected, Nepali Congress president Deuba has been exerting pressure on the government to close the case. The government can do nothing when NC, the key coalition partner, opposes it.
Now that the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police has also concluded its investigation into the gold smuggling case, and is preparing to submit it to the District Attorney’s Office, it is still unclear who is advised to be made defendants in the case.
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