Hearing Postponed in Fake Bhutanese Refugee Case Involving CPN-UML Leaders Rayamajhi and Jha

Kathmandu. The hearing on the case of CPN-UML leader and former minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Bechan Jha, who are currently in custody during the investigation into the fake Bhutanese refugee case, has been postponed. The government lawyer's office requested and secured the postponement of the case pending at the Patan High Court.

The case involving Rayamajhi and Jha was scheduled for a hearing on Thursday before the bench of Patan High Court judges Rishi Rajbhandari and Tejendra Prasad Sharma Sapkota.

They approached the Patan High Court after the Kathmandu District Court rejected their petition seeking release from custody, filed under Section 71 of the Muluki Criminal Procedure Code, 2074.

On Poush 25, Rayamajhi, who is in custody during the investigation of the fake Bhutanese refugee case, filed a petition under Section 71 (2) of the Muluki Criminal Procedure Code, 2074.

After the bench of Kathmandu District Court Judge Sudarshan Lamichhane refused to release him from custody under Section 71 (2) of the Muluki Criminal Procedure Code, 2074, Rayamajhi approached the Patan High Court. Similarly, Bechan Jha had filed a petition at the Patan High Court on Poush 11 after the District Court refused to release him.

Section 71 (2) of the Muluki Criminal Procedure Code, 2074, states that if reasonable grounds arise to prove that an accused person detained under Section 67 or Section 68 is not guilty, the court may hear the matter at any stage of the proceedings and order the person's release from custody. Rayamajhi based his petition in the District Court on Section 71 (2).

On Asar 1, 2080, the bench of Kathmandu District Court Judge Prem Prasad Neupane had ordered Rayamajhi and 15 others to be sent to custody during the investigation into the Bhutanese refugee case.