The Nepalese Supreme Court on Thursday issued a show cause notice to the government seeking clarity over granting mass amnesties to convicts two weeks ago. The document, issued to the President’s Secretariat, came as a response to a writ petition and sought answers from Ram Chandra Poudel for pardoning a murder convict on September 20, on the eve of Nepal’s Constitution Day.
The petition was filed against the pardoning of Yograj Dhakal ‘Regal’, who was handed a 10-year sentence in 2020 for the murder of Nepalgunj local Chetan Manandhar. The deceased’s wife, Bharati Sherpa, moved against the reprieve granted to Dhakal, who had served just three years of jail time.
A single bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Manoj Sharma issued the notice returnable by October 11. It instructed that a full bench must hear the case from October 13 till its final settlement.
President Poudel has recently granted amnesty to several politicians. ‘Regal’ was associated with the Tarun Dal (Youth front) of the Nepali Congress—the biggest constituent of the coalition government led by Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) chief and PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.
Justice Sharma instructed the government to provide full security to Bharati and her family till the final settlement of the case.
He also said that the court will be studying the issues, limitations and scope of the amnesty.
On Tuesday, Poudel said he had no choice on the matter of the amnesty and was only endorsing the cabinet recommendation “under our Constitution and the system we follow”.
Source : Indian Express