The Kathmandu District Court has issued an arrest warrant against three former ministers in connection with the Lalita Niwas land grab scam.

The court on Sunday issued the arrest warrant against former Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar and two former ministers for land management Dambar Bahadur Shrestha and Chandra Dev Joshi.

The Supreme Court on Sunday cleared the way to investigate those involved in Cabinet decisions to transfer plots of Lalita Niwas land in the name of private individuals. The verdict has opened the door for the police to start an investigation against former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai.

Gachhadar was deputy prime minister and minister for physical infrastructure and Shrestha was the minister for land management while Nepal was prime minister from May 25, 2009, to February 6, 2011. Joshi was the minister for land management during the Bhattarai-led government.

Lalita Niwas covers some 300 ropanis (around 15 hectares) of land and includes the prime minister’s residence, Nepal Rastra Bank central office and some other residences of key government officials.

The Central Investigation Bureau of the Nepal Police has so far arrested 20 individuals in connection with the scam and is looking into their possible involvement in the case.