Lawyers Question Exclusion of Political Leaders in Fake Bhutanese Refugee Case

Kathmandu. On the third day of the hearing in the fake Bhutanese refugee case, lawyers raised questions about the exclusion of names of individuals in leadership positions of political parties. More than 12 lawyers argued on behalf of the complainant in the Kathmandu District Court. Teknath Rizal, during his statement, said that former Deputy Prime Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi had taken him to the residence of former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' and introduced him. Lawyers questioned why the case was selectively filed without mentioning Prachanda's name in the statement, even though Rizal gave such a statement. Similarly, it was claimed that Rajesh Bajracharya, known as a close associate of former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, dealt with receiving money from the complainant, and that Oli was also aware of this. Lawyers argued in court that audio evidence exists. "If messages sent on Facebook Messenger, audio, WhatsApp, and mobile messages are to be considered, why were they not questioned?" asked advocate Swagat Nepal. In the case being heard in the court of Kathmandu District Court Judge Tej Bahadur Khadka, lawyers for the complainant on Friday questioned why the names of high-level political leaders were not mentioned in the case filing, even though the victim mentioned them during their statement in the Bhutanese refugee case. It was mentioned in the statement that the then Home Secretary Prem Kumar Rai, who is currently the Chief Commissioner of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, had assured the complainant and informed about keeping money in the car. "But why was his name not mentioned anywhere? Why was he not questioned even once?" asked advocate Dhruva Shrestha in court. Advocate Hariprasad Kattel, on behalf of the complainant, claimed that there is evidence of Oli and Deuba's names being mentioned with the complainant in the audio. "Who are they, shouldn't that be investigated?" Advocate Kattel asked in court, "How is it that some names are included in the case and some are not? How is it possible for leaders to say they didn't know about such a big issue?" Lawyers primarily claimed today that former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa 'Badal', Prem Kumar Rai, Arzu Deuba, Manju Khan, and Rajesh Bajracharya should be brought in for questioning because the complainants provided audio-video evidence of them dealing with money. This case, involving the collection of large sums of money by sending Nepali citizens as fake Bhutanese refugees to countries like America, has been undergoing final hearing since Wednesday after three years. The charge sheet claims that Nepali citizens were made Bhutanese refugees as part of a plan by an organized gang, creating fake documents. The case, filed on five charges including organized crime, has been heard in the district court after nearly three years. On Jestha 10, 2080, a case was filed in the Kathmandu District Court against former Deputy Prime Minister and UML leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, former Home Minister and Congress leader Balkrishna Khand, then Home Secretary Teknarayan Pandey, former MP Angtewa Sherpa, and then Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa's security advisor Indrajit Rai, among 30 others, for forgery, fraud, organized crime, and crimes against the state. Among the 18 arrested during the investigation, the District Government Attorney's Office Kathmandu filed a case against Rayamajhi, Khand, then Secretary Pandey, then Home Minister's advisor Rai, as well as Bhutanese refugee leader Teknath Rizal, gang members Keshav Prasad Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Sagar Rai, Sandesh Sharma, son of former minister Rayamajhi, Sandeep Rayamajhi, and then Home Minister Khand's private secretary Narendra KC as defendants. Similarly, Govind Kumar Chaudhary, Ramsharan KC, former MP Angtewa Sherpa, then chairman of the Hajj Committee under the Home Ministry Shamsher Mian, and mediator Haribhakta Maharjan were also made defendants. On Asar 1, 2080, District Judge Prem Prasad Neupane's bench sent them to jail for pre-trial detention. Tank Gurung, one of the defendants, was released on bail of 1 million rupees, and Laxmi Maharjan was released on bail of 500,000 rupees. The following year, on Baisakh 9, 2081, a supplementary case was filed in court against gang member Keshav Dulal and four others based on the complaint of Dawa Furi Sherpa. After the case reached the court, Pratik Thapa, son of defendant Ram Bahadur Thapa, was arrested on Asar 14, 2081. He is also currently in jail during pre-trial detention. During the investigation, police arrested another suspect in the refugee case, Bechan Jha, from the Nepal-India border area in Kanchanpur and brought him to Kathmandu. After investigation, another supplementary prosecution was filed against him in court on Shrawan 29, 2081. Some of the defendants in the initial case are still absconding. After the district court sent them to prison for pre-trial detention, the defendants appealed to the Patan High Court against it in Shrawan 2080. Hearing this, on Mangsir 15, 2080, the High Court released Haribhakta Maharjan, Narendra KC, Sandeep Rayamajhi, Teknath Rizal, and Ramsharan KC, who were in pre-trial detention following the district court's order, on bail, and Tank Gurung, Laxmi Maharjan, Ashish Budhathoki, and Keshav Tuladhar on regular bail. Following the High Court's order, Sandeep Rayamajhi was released on bail of 3 million rupees, Rizal, Maharjan, and Ramsharan KC on 1.5 million rupees each, and Narendra KC and Shamsher Mian on 1 million rupees each. Regarding former Home Minister Khand, as the opinions of High Court judges Janak Pandey and Prakash Kharel differed on whether to uphold the district court's order to keep him in pre-trial detention or release him on bail, on Mangsir 28, 2080, Judge Krishnaram Koirala's bench ordered Khand to be released on bail of 3 million rupees. The High Court upheld the district court's order to send the remaining defendants, including Rayamajhi, for pre-trial detention. Although the district court's prosecution mentioned that an investigation by the Department of Money Laundering Investigation should also be conducted against the defendants, Khand, who was released on bail by the High Court's order, appeared before the Department of Money Laundering Investigation and was released on bail of 1.5 million rupees. Meanwhile, after the High Court ordered the remaining defendants, including former Deputy Prime Minister Rayamajhi, then Secretary Pandey, and then Home Minister's advisor Rai, to be sent for pre-trial detention, they appealed to the Supreme Court against the High Court's order. The bench of Justices Kumar Regmi and Tekprasad Dhungana heard the case and on Baisakh 13, 2081, ordered Angtewa Sherpa and Govind Chaudhary to be released on bail and Mian on regular bail, while ordering Rayamajhi, Pandey, Bhandari, Dulal, Sandesh, Indrajit, and Sagar Rai to remain in custody. They are currently in prison. Pratik, arrested after the case was filed in court, and Jha, who was made a defendant in the supplementary prosecution, are also in prison.