Supreme Court convicts Deepak Manange for attempted murder

Kathmandu, November 5 — The Supreme Court has found Gandaki Province Assembly member and former Minister Deepak Manange guilty of attempted murder. A bench of Justices Nahakul Subedi and Tek Prasad Dhungana upheld the previous verdict from the Patan High Court regarding the case of attempted murder.

The Patan High Court had sentenced him to 5 years of imprisonment for attempted murder, and the Supreme Court has confirmed the same sentence.

Manange had also spent time in jail in December 2018. His case at the Supreme Court began on February 15, 2019. After filing an appeal from jail, the Supreme Court had issued a letter on December 21, 2018, allowing him to be released on bail. Since then, Manange had been fighting the case from outside jail.

Deepak Manange, also known as Rajiv Gurung, had ordered an attack on another gang leader, Chakre Milan, in which Milan's hand was severed with a sword. This attack occurred after disputes over contracts and collection of money between Manange’s group and Milan's group in 2005. Milan's hand was later reattached at Teaching Hospital.

A case was filed against Manange at the Kathmandu District Court for the attempted murder. However, the District Court only sentenced him to two years of imprisonment, ruling that it was merely a physical assault. Dissatisfied with the District Court's decision, the government appealed to the then Patan Appellate Court, which overturned part of the lower court's ruling and sentenced Manange to five years for attempted murder, while acquitting the other accused persons.

The case was then brought to the Supreme Court by the government, but since Manange had already been sentenced to five years, there was no further appeal filed on his behalf. The Supreme Court upheld the acquittals of the other accused individuals and confirmed the ruling of the Patan Appellate Court, ordering its implementation.

However, Manange, who was found guilty by the Appellate Court, neither went to jail for the execution of the sentence nor filed an appeal at the Supreme Court. He remained on the run. 

After being elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly from Manang, he eventually appealed to the Supreme Court in May 2017 for a review of his case. However, the Supreme Court Registrar rejected his appeal, stating that the deadline for filing had passed. This rejection led to Manange’s incarceration.

From prison, Manange argued that he had not been given the opportunity to file his appeal, that he had not received any notices at his address, and he filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court against the Registrar's decision. 

A bench of Justices Sharad Prasad Ghimire and Bam Bahadur Shrestha of the Supreme Court, on December 12, 2018, overturned the decision to dismiss his petition, ordering that Manange be given an opportunity to file an appeal and be released on bail.

As per the new provisions of the Muluki Ain (National Criminal Code), a person facing a sentence of less than 10 years may fight their case from outside of jail. Therefore, the Supreme Court ordered that Manange be released on bail to fight his case outside prison.

After the Supreme Court sent a letter to the Dili Bazaar Jail Office on December 21, 2018, Manange was released from jail on Friday, January 25, 2019.