On February 1, Mugu District Court released four rape suspects on Rs 50,000 bail. The order was not issued by a judge but by a computer operator at the court.

In the absence of the district judge and the court registrar, the computer operator, Bal Kumar Malla, was presiding over the bench trial.

A computer operator filling in for a judge is not a standard legal practice— anywhere in the world, but it is common in Karnali region, where every year during winter, the district judges leave their assigned areas.

In their absence, the judges assign unqualified and unskilled personnel to work on their behalf.

Madan Prasad Jaisawal, the registrar at Humla District Court, said every year from mid-December to mid-February, the Supreme Court deputes the judges of Humla, Jumla, Mugu, Dolpa and Kalikot to other districts, given that the courts receive few cases during winter.  

So every two or three months of the year,  judicial proceedings in Karnali region are supervised by unqualified people.