Just 10 days after the Supreme Court’s verdict to give life sentence to the Tikapur massacre mastermind and former lawmaker Resham Chaudhary, President Ramchandra Paudel, on the government’s recommendation, pardoned his remaining jail term.

On Sunday, a Cabinet meeting had requested President Ramchandra Paudel to pardon the remaining jail terms of 501 convicts including Chaudhary on the occasion of Republic Day, which falls on Monday. The government made the recommendation as per Article 276 of the Constitution of Nepal. The President may, in accordance with law, grant pardons, suspend, commute or remit any sentence passed by any Court, judicial or quasi-judicial institution or administrative authority or institution, the article says.

The President’s Office in a statement on Sunday evening said 19 persons including Chaudhary who were serving jail terms after being convicted by various courts were granted presidential pardon. In addition, the President also pardoned 482 people serving jail terms, according to another statement from Sheetal Niwas.

The 19 were pardoned based on the government’s recommendation while the 482 for having completed 50 percent of their jail terms and demonstrating good behaviour.

Chaudhary had, on May 25, appealed to the President’s Office, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, to commute his jail term. The office returned the application to the ministry for action. Accordingly, the government on Sunday made the recommendation.

Nepal’s presidents, on the government’s recommendation, have been pardoning jailed convicts on Republic Day, Constitution Day and during the Dashain festival. The Supreme Court on May 17 upheld the decisions of lower courts to convict Chaudhary for masterminding the 2015 Tikapur carnage that saw seven police personnel and a toddler dead.

The government’s action has drawn mixed reactions from the civil society and intelligentsia. While some claim pardoning a man convicted of eight murders even before he completes one fourth of the jail term is a mockery of the judicial system, others argue that the deaths were associated with a political movement and cannot be viewed through a criminal lens.

“The government has once again proved that it works for perpetrators and is least bothered about the pain of the victims. This is disrespect for the judiciary as well,” Charan Prasai, a human rights activist, told the Post. “This pardon is condemnable and objectionable.”

Right defenders say it is surprising that the government didn’t even wait for the full text of the court verdict before pressing ahead with the pardon.

Prakash Osti, a former member of the National Human Rights Commission, said while there is no legal problem for pardon, the government could have waited for the court’s full text before taking the decision. “There was no need to make the decision in haste. I would say the government demonstrated disrespect for the judiciary by not waiting for the full text,” Osti told the Post. “However, there is no legal hurdle to the pardon.”

The family members of those killed in the violence have started legal action against the decision. Sharda Kadayat Bohra, wife of police inspector Keshav Bohora, who lost his life in the incident, has moved the Supreme Court with a writ petition challenging the pardon. “We have received the petition but it couldn’t be registered on Sunday. We will decide whether or not to register it after a study,” Bimal Poudel, spokesperson for the court, told the Post.

The Tikapur incident happened on August 24, 2015 during a protest organised by the Tharu community against a government decision to lump Kailali in a province together with seven hill districts. The Tharu community had been protesting for months in the run-up to the promulgation of the constitution demanding a separate Tharuhat province comprising several historically Tharu-dominated districts.

On that day, the Tharuhat group had asked its supporters to come out in protest by ignoring the prohibitory orders imposed by the local administration. Violent clashes between protesters and police resulted in eight deaths. The police on September 15, 2015 filed murder charges against Chaudhary and others who were absconding after the violent incident.

Chaudhary surrendered before the Kailali district court in February 2021. A year later, in May 2019, the Kailali district court gave life sentences to 11 people including Chaudhary. It handed 12 others three years of imprisonment while another person got six months.

The convicts had appealed the Dipayal High Court, which largely upheld the district court’s verdict. The High Court upheld the life terms slapped by the district court on Chaudhary and others.

Dissatisfied with the lower court’s verdict, Chaudhary and other convicts moved the top court demanding that verdicts be scrapped and they be given clean chits. However, rejecting their request, a division bench of justices Anand Mohan Bhattarai and Nahakul Sudedi upheld Chaudhary’s life imprisonment.

Chaudhary has served five years in jail, which is one fourth of life imprisonment as defined by Nepali laws.

Observers from Kailali say the Pushpa Kamal Dahal government has made a welcome decision by pardoning Chaudhary. Hari Chandra Kamali, an associate professor at Sudurpaschim University, said while the deaths of eight people were unfortunate, they happened during a political movement.

“A large section of the Tharu community thinks it was not a criminal act. And why should people involved in the Tharu movement be given life terms while many others involved in other similar movements are not even facing any investigation?” Kamali said, talking to the Post over the phone from Kailali. “With the amnesty granted to Chaudhary, Tharu people have gotten justice.”

Kamali says most locals think Chaudhary was framed as he was not even present in Kailali when the incident happened.

Although Chaudhary can now walk free, he cannot return to politics. The Election of the Member of the House of Representatives Act says anyone convicted of life imprisonment or jail term of 20 years or above cannot contest elections.

Chaudhary’s wife Ranjita Shrestha is a federal lawmaker and heads the Nagarik Unmukti Party that she formed prior to the 2017 elections. The party has four lawmakers in the House and Ranjita is a government minister.