The Supreme Court has ruled against pardoning UCPN (Maoist) former lawmaker Bal Krishna Dhungel convicted in the murder of Ujjain Shrestha of Okhaldhunga.

A constitutional bench of the apex court on Thursday ruled that Dhungel, sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1998 murder by the Okhaldhunga District Court, could not be pardoned for the crime.

A case was filed by Ujjain’s sister Sabitri Shrestha at the court after the erstwhile Baburam Bhattarai-led government forwarded Dhungel’s name for presidential clemency in November 2011.

The bench included Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha, Justices Sushila Karki, Baidhyanath Upadhyay, Gopal Parajuli and Om Prakash Mishra.

Bhattarai government had argued that Dhungel’s case should be dealt by the transitional justice mechanism, claiming that the matter was political in nature.