The Supreme Court has ordered the government to produce Khadga Bahadur Bishwokarma, spokesperson for the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal, to the apex court within 24 hours along with documents of prosecution.

This is the third time that the SC has directed the government to produce Bishwokarma and eventually ordering the government to release him citing lack of proper evidence to keep him in the custody.

A single bench of Justice Kedar Prasad Chalise has ordered the government to produce him at the SC.

The repeated arrests of the former minister from the court premises has irked some leaders and human rights activists.

“This is unbecoming of a democratic government,” said Sudip Pathak, a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The government can prosecute him for all his wrong deeds at once, but it is not right to harass him repeatedly, Pathak said, calling on the government to respect the independence of the judiciary.

Bishwokarma is currently in the custody of Nuwakot District Police. Earlier in the day, the Nuwakot District Court had remanded him to three-day judicial custody for investigation on charges of torching a breaker and an excavator of Nagarjun Construction Pvt Ltd. Those machines were used for the upgradation of the Dhamale-Jiling road section at the Belkotgadhi Municipality-9.

Ram Bahadur BC of the Nagarjun Construction Pvt Ltd had filed a case against 15 people, including Bishwokarma, claiming that they were involved in torching the machines on the night of July 23.

Bishwokarma’s younger brother Birendra had filed a habeas corpus writ at the SC on Friday, claiming his brother was illegally detained.

After re-arresting Bishwokarma from SC premises on Thursday, police told the media that he would be taken to Bhojpur for trial on the murder case. But he was taken to Nuwakot instead.

According to the Post’s correspondent in Nuwakot, Bishwokarma told the media that his arrest was politically motivated and that he did not torched the excavator.

On August 23, Bishwokarma aka Prakanda was arrested from the Supreme Court premises soon after he was released following the court’s order. Earlier on August 17, he was arrested for the first time from the SC premises after his release. He was handed over to Kavre District Police, claiming that they were investigating Biswokarma’s involvement in the Ncell tower’s arson case.

Former Minister Bishwokarma was detained from Dakshinkali of Kathmandu on August 7 on the charge of extortion for the first time.

The apex court had ordered the government to release him after police failed to produce sufficient evidence on the charge of extortion.

Coordinator of Naya Shakti Party-Nepal and former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai, addressing at Parliament on Sunday, objected the repeated arrests of Bishwokarma and urged the government to behave with him in a political manner.

“I don’t agree with the path he is treading, but it’s their right to raise the agenda,” Bhattarai said, urging the government to treat them like a political force. “We must not repeat the acts we endured during Panchayat system.”