Hearing Postponed in Pashupati Gaushala Dharamshala Dispute Case

Kathmandu. The hearing of the case related to the Pashupati Gaushala Dharamshala dispute has been postponed. The bench scheduled for hearing before the division bench of High Court Patan judges Lal Bahadur Kunwar and Deepak Khanal was postponed at the request of the appellant, the Marwadi Sewa Samiti.

After the Kathmandu District Court ruled on Ashoj 16, 2081, that the Pashupati Gaushala Dharamshala would remain under the ownership of the Pashupati Area Development Trust, the Marwadi Sewa Samiti filed an appeal in the High Court against the decision. The Kathmandu District Court had determined that the Samiti did not have tenancy rights (mohi hak) over the land measuring four ropani 15 aana two dam in plot number 83 and four ropani 10 aana in plot number 85 of the former Pashupati Ward No. 2 of the Pashupati Gaushala Dharamshala.

The court upheld the decision made by the Trust on Shrawan 17, 2080, to cancel the agreement, because the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) agreement dated Jestha 12, 2060, lacked a specified duration, and although the conditions of the agreement—such as paying NPR 51,000 annually as decided by the Special Court on Jestha 31, 2067, and upheld by the Supreme Court on Ashar 27, 2068—could have been amended, they were not.

The District Court concluded that the evidence presented by the Samiti failed to prove that the Marwadi Sewa Samiti held tenancy rights over the disputed land.

Furthermore, the court confirmed that the Marwadi Sewa Samiti had acknowledged the full ownership of the Pashupati Amal Kot Kacheri over the physical structures, including the houses and land constructed in the Dharamshala.

The Kathmandu District Court had ruled that the contract agreement, made on Jestha 12, 2060, was not immutable, noting that questions had repeatedly been raised from various angles regarding the fairness and transparency of the agreement conditions.