Most defendants granted bail in high-profile gold smuggling case

Kathmandu, September 27 — The Supreme Court has issued a final ruling on whether to remand or release on bail the defendants in a gold smuggling case involving approximately 60 kilograms of gold. The bench, consisting of Justices Til Prasad Shrestha and Tek Prasad Dhungana, ordered the release of most defendants on bail.

The district and high courts had previously ordered the remand of certain defendants; however, the Supreme Court overturned that decision, allowing some to be released on bail while upholding remand for others.

In its order, the Supreme Court requested bail for Kumar Dhakal, Santosh Chand, Ram Kumar Bhujel, Saroj Shrestha, Rajendra Kumar Rai, Shiv Kumar Sarraf, and Kishor Kumar Basnet. The court also upheld the remand for Thupten Chhiring, Harkaraj Rai, Dilip Bhujel, and Suman Kharel.

The Supreme Court has ordered the release on bail of ten defendants who were previously remanded by the District Court of Kathmandu and the High Court of Patan. Supreme Court spokesperson Achyut Kuinkel stated that orders for bail would be issued only on Sunday for those granted bail, while those ordered to be remanded must remain in custody.

A hearing on Friday was held at the Supreme Court regarding the petitions of eleven accused individuals in the gold smuggling case, who had been remanded by both the district and high courts. Following their remand, the defendants filed petitions at the Supreme Court challenging the decisions.

Based on the investigation conducted by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the police, the Kathmandu District Attorney's Office filed five cases against 29 individuals, claiming Dawa Jin Wang as the main accused on September 17, 2023. The charges included organized crime.