Kathmandu: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a mandamus ordering annulling the controversial decision to grant presidential pardon to Yog Raj Dhakal, also known as Regal, a murder convict affiliated with the Nepali Congress.
A full bench of Justices Justices Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Sapana Pradhan Malla, and Kumar Chudal, issuing a mandamus, ordered to arrest Dhakal immediately. The court’s decision came in response to a writ petition filed by Bharati Sherpa, the wife of Chetan Manandhar, who was ruthlessly murdered by Dhakal in 2015.
The bench concluded that the earlier decision to grant the pardon was constitutionally and legally flawed. President Ramchandra Paudel on the occassion of the eighth Constitution Day on October 19 pardoned the remaining jail terms of 670 convicts, including Dhakal.
Previously, on October 5, the bench led by Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma had instructed two state agencies to present their justifications and grounds for the contentious amnesty. Sherpa, demanding the annulment of the pardon bestowed upon Dhakal, had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court, prompting this critical review and subsequent nullification of the presidential pardon.
[Related: The woman who moved the court against presidential pardon collapses]
[Related: Supreme Court demands original documents related to decision of paroling ‘Rigal’]
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