The Supreme Court has ordered authorities to produce industrialist Shekhar Golchha before the court within 24 hours from the date of receipt of the order.

A single bench of Justice Nripadhwaj Niraula issued the order on Tuesday on a habeas corpus petition filed by Golchha’s wife, Sima Golchha, alleging that police had illegally detained him.

The apex court directed that Golchha be produced within 24 hours from the date of receipt of the order and also sought a written response through the Office of the Attorney General.

Golchha, who was arrested in a case under the Securities Act, 2006, had his custody extended by three days on Monday.

A bench of judge Dandapani Lamichhane at the Kathmandu District Court granted permission to keep him in custody for an additional three days. He is currently in the custody of the Central Investigation Bureau of the Nepal Police.

He was arrested by the Central Investigation Bureau from the Naxal area on Thursday in connection with an alleged share trading scheme under investigation.

Golchha is the chairman of the Golchha Group and a former president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), serving from 2020 to 2023.

His arrest follows an investigation and supervision report prepared by the Securities Board of Nepal into alleged collusion in share trading involving businessmen Deepak Bhatta and Sulav Agrawal, who are already in police custody in a money laundering probe.

The report names five individuals — Raj Bahadur Shah, Shubhi Agrawal, Rishi Raj More and Sandip Chachan, among others — as accused and identifies several others, including Golchha, as facilitators. It links the group to activities such as credit trading, price manipulation and unsettled transactions that may have artificially influenced share prices.

According to the report, funds associated with Golchha and several institutions were used by a stockbroker to purchase shares in the names of Bhatta and others. The broker is said to owe Golchha around Rs 525 million.