Of the pending cases, prominent ones include those involving former IGPs Moti Lal Bohara, Achyut Krishna Kharel and Pradeep Shumsher Rana. As per the charge sheet of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the property to be confiscated from the trio includes Rs 23.8 million, Rs 16.3 million and Rs 37.3 million respectively. Bohara was convicted by the Special Court, while other two were acquitted. Similarly, corruption case of former Minister Govinda Raj Joshi is also pending in the apex court.

According to the CIAA, property to be confiscated from Joshi is worth Rs 39.3 million. Former bureaucrats Chakra Bandhu Aryal, Keshar Jung Khadka and Arjun Ranjitkar’s cases are pending. The amount of property to be confiscated from the trio is Rs 26 million, Rs 14.5 million, and Rs 31.9 million, respectively. The Special Court in November 2012 had convicted Ranjitakar of corruption and sentenced him to 12 months in jail. The court had acquitted Aryal in 2007 while it had slapped him 12-month imprisonment in 2005. Corruption cases used to be dealt relatively faster in the past after the apex court adopted panel system to deal with such litigations. However, the system was later done away with.

Court officials sound defensive on the number of pending cases. According to Shreekant Paudel, spokesperson of the apex court, the court has been prioritising corruption cases. “We also have to deal with other cases related to women, divorce and writ petitions,” Poudel said.

Others cite the delay in dispatching of notice issued by the court in addition to the increased number of defendants in corruption cases. “The absence of justices was also a reason for the increased number of cases,” said Nepal Bar Association General Secretary Sunil Pokharel.