Supreme Court Orders No Arrest for Deuba Couple

Kathmandu. The Supreme Court has issued an interim order not to arrest former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba couple. The joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Mahesh Sharma Paudel and Nityananda Pandey issued the order on Monday. The Supreme Court pointed out that the process was not followed correctly when permission was sought from the Kathmandu District Court to arrest the Deuba couple. The Supreme Court issued an interim order not to arrest them on the first ground that the legal provisions specifying the method and format were not followed when issuing the arrest warrant for the Deuba couple. The Supreme Court has issued an interim order not to arrest the Deuba couple, citing mainly four legal and procedural grounds. The Supreme Court has raised the question of jurisdiction as the first ground. The Supreme Court has taken the new ordinance to amend the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (published on 2083/1/18) as the main basis. According to the ordinance, the Special Court has been given the jurisdiction to investigate and try money laundering offenses. Therefore, the Supreme Court's decision is that the permission given by the Kathmandu District Court on 2082 Chaitra 24 for an arrest warrant is 'automatically invalidated'. As the second ground, the Supreme Court has pointed out procedural errors. When issuing an arrest warrant against the Deuba couple, the police should have obtained permission from the Special Court, but instead, an arrest warrant was issued directly from the Kathmandu District Court. The Supreme Court has pointed out that the Department of Money Laundering Investigation did not follow the method and format prescribed by the prevailing law when seeking permission for an arrest warrant and when the District Court granted permission. The court concluded that the arrest permission was obtained without completing the legal process. As the third ground, the Supreme Court has indicated a lack of reasonable basis and cause. It is necessary to disclose the reasonable basis and cause for arresting any person, but it appears that an arrest warrant was issued against the Deuba couple showing the reason of destroying evidence without doing so. According to Section 16 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2064, there must be 'reasonable grounds' such as absconding, destroying evidence, or obstructing the investigation to arrest someone. However, the Supreme Court's order states that when the department sought permission and the court granted permission in the case of the Deuba couple, no such concrete basis and reason were disclosed. As the fourth ground, the court has prohibited arbitrary arrest. The Supreme Court has stated that although arrest can be made in accordance with the prevailing law for investigation, such an arrest should not be 'arbitrary'. The order states that the court and investigative bodies should be cautious as arrests made without following legal procedures and established practices violate individual freedom. On these grounds, an interim order has been issued to not arrest or cause to be arrested until further order as per Rule 49 of the Supreme Court Regulations, 2074.