Hearing Postponed in Supreme Court for Former Minister Gupta in Lichhibari Corruption Case

Kathmandu. The hearing on the petition filed by former Minister Rajkumar Gupta, currently in custody in the Lichhibari corruption case, has been postponed. The case, which was scheduled for a hearing in the joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Kumar Regmi and Sunil Kumar Pokharel, was postponed by former Minister Gupta's legal counsel.

Gupta had filed a petition seeking to overturn the order issued by the Special Court to send him into custody regarding the Lichhibari land scandal corruption case. Previously, on Gupta's petition, a joint bench of Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Nripadhwaj Niraula had ordered to ascertain whether petition number 73 from other defendants had been filed.

In the Lichhibari corruption case in Pokhara, the bench comprising Special Court Chairman Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and Justices Dilliratna Shrestha and Bidur Koirala had ordered his detention for trial. The Special Court filed a corruption case against the then-Minister Gupta based on evidence that he took a bribe of 53 lakh rupees from a real estate businessman, promising to halt the transfer of the Chief Officer of the Land Revenue Office in Kaski and to make him a member of the Land Commission.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had accused Minister Gupta and former Minister Ranjita Shrestha of taking a bribe of 25 lakh rupees through mutual collusion to misuse their position and provide official favors.

Gupta had claimed in his statement to the court that the allegations against him were false and that he had not taken a bribe from anyone. However, the court determined, based on the evidence immediately available, that he could not be considered innocent.