Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) leaders have said the party is ready to honour the Janakpur High Court decision, ordering the arrest of Province 2 State Minister Abhiram Sharma who has been accused of murder of Armed Police Force (APF) Assistant Sub-inspector Thaman BK in Jaleshwor during the 2015 Madhes Movement.

The court issued a mandamus order in the first week of August, directing the district police to arrest the murder accused.

The RJP-N leadership was under pressure following the high court decision as the party’s recent meeting also discussed the issue. “RJP-N upholds the court’s order and present our leader to the court,” said party’s senior Vice-chair Brikhesh Chandra Lal.

State Minister Sharma has not received any information about the court order, Lal said, “but the party will ask him to respect the judiciary”. RJP-N leaders have been claiming that the case of Sharma and Mayor of Jaleswor Municipality Ramashankar Mishra are political in nature and there are no serious grounds to prove them guilty.

Talking to the Post, State Minister Sharma said he is ready to surrender himself in the court. “As a responsible citizen of the nation I respect the court’s order. I’ll surrender myself in the court soon,” said Sharma, adding that he has not yet received the copy of the court decision.

On July 11, Chief Minister of Province 2 Lalbabu Raut administered the oath to Sharma after the RJP-N selected him and other two others for state ministerial roles.

A month ago, the RJP-N leadership had presented a seven-point memorandum to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, urging him to withdraw the cases against the party’s leaders and cadres, including that of lawmaker-elect Resham Chaudhary.