SC to hear petition against Prachanda and Bhattarai on child soldier use

Kathmandu, November 8 — A hearing has been scheduled today at the Supreme Court regarding a petition filed by a former child soldier, Lenin Bista, who has named Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) and former Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai as defendants.

The petition, which was filed against the two former prime ministers, has been set for hearing by the court.

The petition was filed by Bista in two separate applications, which will be heard by the bench of Judges Manoj Kumar Sharma and Tek Prasad Dhungana. The petition accuses the Maoist leaders of using child soldiers during the civil war and demands legal action against them.

Bista initially filed the petition on June 11, 2023, and after no decision was made, he filed a second petition on September 9, 2024. The petition claims that the rights and concerns of child soldiers were ignored during the amendments to the transitional justice laws.

Both petitions had been delayed twice previously, with hearings scheduled on September 15 and September 23, but no hearings took place at that time.