SC orders release of former CIAA Chief Basnyat on bail

KATHMANDU, May 8: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday ordered release of former Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Deep Basnyat on bail.

A division bench of Justices Dr Aananda Mohan Bhattarai and Ishwor Prasad Khatiwata, on hearing the writ petition, ordered the release of Basnyat in Rs 500,000 on bail. 

Basnyat has been kept in judicial custody for his alleged involvement in the Lalita Niwas land scam since December last year after the order of the Special Court. 

Basnyat’s son-in-law Prajwal Adhikari had filed a petition in the SC last Friday asking that Basnyat be allowed to fight his case while on bail. In his petition, Adhikari had demanded that 69-year-old chronic patient Basnyat be released on the ground of his ailing health. 

Basnyat has been infected with COVID-19 and is undergoing treatment in a private healthcare facility in Kathmandu. 

The CIAA had filed a case against 110 individuals, including Basnyat, on 5 February 2020 for their involvement in transferring public land of the Lalita Niwas in the individual's name.