National
SC to hear Dhungel’s case today
Justice Hari Krishna Karki on Sunday refused to hear on Bal Krishna Dhungel clemency case citing that he was previously involved in the case as a private lawyer.Justice Hari Krishna Karki on Sunday refused to hear on Bal Krishna Dhungel clemency case citing that he was previously involved in the case as a private lawyer.
The hearing has been postponed for Monday, said Supreme Court spokesperson Bhadrakali Pokhrel.
A joint bench of Justice Karki and Justice Cholendra Shumsher had been called upon to oversee the case.
Advocate Dinesh Tripathi filed a writ petition on Thursday, demanding the court’s intervention to stop the government from offering Presidential Pardon to Dhungel, a former Maoist lawmaker convicted with the murder of Ujjan Kumar Shrestha of Okhaldhunga in 1998. In response to the petition, the apex court on Friday had sought from the government a written explanation within 15 days on why Dhungel should be given amnesty. A single bench of Justice Dipkumar Karki had also called the government representatives to the court on Sunday to discuss the case.
Tripathi has requested the court to issue an interim order to the government stop Dhungel’s clemency process.
Dhungel is currently serving life sentence at Dillibazaar Prison after he was arrested from Laltipur in October 2017.
Meanwhile, a group of conflict victims organised a rally in Kathmandu on Sunday demanding the government not to release Dhungel.