Hearing Postponed for Former Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Bechan Jha in Fake Bhutanese Refugee Case

Kathmandu. The hearing for the petition seeking judicial custody review for former minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Bechan Jha, who are currently detained in connection with the fake Bhutanese refugee case, has been postponed.

The petition filed by Rayamajhi and Jha was scheduled for hearing on Thursday before a division bench of Patan High Court judges Khadananda Tiwari and Netra Prakash Acharya. The hearing scheduled for today was postponed after Rayamajhi's legal counsel filed a petition for adjournment. Bechan Jha's case was also postponed due to the same reason of linkage.

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.

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

After the bench of Kathmandu District Court Judge Sudarshan Lamichhane refused to release Rayamajhi 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 in 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 emerge to prove that an accused 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 release of the individual from custody. Rayamajhi based his petition in the District Court on Section 71(2).

On Ashar 1, 2080, the bench of Kathmandu District Court Judge Prem Prasad Neupane had ordered the detention of Rayamajhi and 16 others for further investigation in the Bhutanese refugee case.