The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice on a habeas corpus writ demanding release of suspended Inland Revenue Department (IRD) Director General Chudamani Sharma, who is in the custody of Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).

A single bench of Justice Purushottam Bhandari ordered the defendant of the case to present Sharma before the court on Friday.

Sharma's wife Kalpana Upreti had filed a writ at SC on Tuesday demanding immediate release of Sharma saying his detention was illegal and inhumane. In the writ she has argued that the CIAA does not have the authority to probe into the activities of Tax Settlement Commission and the bail amount sought by CIAA for his release was excessive. CIAA is the defendant in the writ.

Earlier, the CIAA had sought Rs 3.02 billion from Sharma on the charge of misappropriating revenue and settling taxes in a questionable way. The Special Court had approved the bail money and allowed CIAA to put Sharma under custody until the bail amount was deposited.  

The CIAA had, on June 2, arrested Sharma from IRD office at Lazimpat, Kathmandu.