The Supreme Court on Monday issued an interlocutory interim order barring the ruling party CPN-UML from building any structure on the land donated by businessman Min Bahadur Gurung.

A single bench of Justice Sunil Kumar Pokharel issued the order after hearing on a writ petition filed by Gyan Bahadur Basnet and Shyam Krishna Maskey, who sought to halt construction on the land.

Gurung, owner of the Bhatbhateni supermarket chain, donated the land and announced plans to build the UML’s central office and hand it over in a year, sparking controversy due to his legal history.

The court has also ordered both the sides offering the land and financial support and the recipient not to take the process of transferring the ownership of the land ahead.

The top court has said that the deal between businessman Gurung and the political party UML is, in prima facie, against the section 38(3) and 38(6) of the Political Party Act-2017.

The section 38(3) of the Act states that when a political party receives financial assistance worth more than Rs25,000 from an individual or an institution, it should be done through a bank cheque or a bank transfer.

The section 38(6) makes it mandatory for a political party to take financial assistance only after making its source transparent.

The top court also sought a possibility of violation of the section 38(5) of the Act that bars anyone from providing financial assistance to a political party with an objective of getting benefitted from that and also prohibits a political party from doing such a transactional deal. Thus, the court pointed out the need for the halt of the process until it issues a verdict.

On October 11, Prime Minister and UML chair KP Sharma Oli, along with party leaders, laid the foundation stone for the UML headquarters on the Gurung-donated 10 ropani and 14 ana of land (0.55 hectares) in Maitrinagar, Kirtipur Municipality ward 2.

The prime minister and his party were widely criticised for receiving the financial support due to Gurung’s controversial background.

In February last year, he was sentenced to two years in prison and fined over Rs8 million for his involvement in the Lalita Niwas land grab scam. He was released on bail in September but was later detained again by the CIB on charges of forging government documents. He was subsequently released.