The Kathmandu District Court on Friday ordered the authorities to release Nepali Congress lawmaker Sunil Sharma, who was arrested on the charge of possessing fake academic certificates of Intermediate of Science.

A single bench of Judge Dandapani Sharma ordered the authorities concerned to investigate the case by releasing Sharma on a general date, said Deepak Dahal, spokesperson for Kathmandu District Court.

Sharma along with other accused were produced before the court for a judicial remand.

“As there is no possibility of the defendant escaping and destroying the evidence, there is no need to keep him in judicial custody,” reads the court’s order.

The Central Investigation Bureau on Thursday arrested Sharma, who is a medical doctor, on the charge of possessing fake academic certificates.

While the constitution requires the police to inform the Speaker before arresting any lawmaker when Parliament is in session, Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire was kept in the dark about the arrest plan, according to Ghimire’s office.

Article 103 (6) of the constitution of Nepal says no member of the federal parliament shall be arrested during the period from the issuance of a notice summoning the session to its prorogation. It further says if any member is arrested, the authority making such arrest shall forthwith give information thereof to the person presiding over the House concerned.

After Sharma’s arrest, a CIB team led by SP Nawaraj Adhikari reached the parliament secretariat to notify the Speaker.

As per the complaints registered at the Nepal Medical Council some doctors had produced fake academic certificates of the proficiency certificate level to sit the MBBS entrance examinations. The certificates were found not verified by the National Examination Board, the CIB said in the information provided to the parliament secretariat.

The CIB has claimed that it had received a letter from the National Examination Board on July 21, 2021 regarding Sharma’s academic certificates.