Supreme Court to Hear Appeal Against Release on Bail in Pokhara Land Corruption Case

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Wednesday regarding the corruption case involving Ramchandra Adhikari, the then Chief of the Land Revenue Office in Kaski, and Tulsiram Budhamagar, defendants in the Pokhara Lichhibari land corruption case.

The case has been listed for hearing before a joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Binod Sharma and Shanti Singh Thapa concerning the appeal filed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) against the Special Court's order to release Adhikari and Budhamagar on bail. The CIAA has appealed to the Supreme Court demanding that both individuals be held in custody during the trial proceedings.

The CIAA had filed the case against individuals including the then Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration, Rajkumar Gupta, and former Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation, Ranjita Shrestha, at the Special Court on October 8, 2082 (Bikram Sambat). Among the main defendants in that case, Ramchandra Adhikari and Tulsiram Budha Magar were ordered by the Special Court on December 23 and December 30, respectively, to be released on bail of NPR 5 lakh each.

The CIAA has claimed misappropriated amounts of NPR 5.3 million against Ramchandra Adhikari and NPR 7.8 million against Tulsiram Budha Magar, demanding imprisonment and fines according to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059.

In the appeal registered at the Supreme Court, the CIAA has demanded that the defendants be kept in custody for the trial proceedings in accordance with Section 7(e) of the Special Court Act, 2059. The appeal, filed under Section 73 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 2074, and Section 15 of the Judicial Administration Act, 2073, states that the Special Court demanded an extremely low bail amount compared to the misappropriated sums, which undermines the spirit of justice.