Bhutanese refugee case: hearing ends, verdict likely to come tomorrow
The attorneys for the defendant finished their arguments on Tuesday, and the government lawyers' arguments were held on Wednesday and Thursday before lunch.
KATHMANDU: The hearing on the review petition against the Kathmandu District Court’s detention order in the bogus Bhutanese refugee case has concluded.
The arguments of all parties were concluded on Thursday in the hearing conducted at Patan High Court by Judges Janak Pandey and Prakash Kharel since last week.
The attorneys for the defendant finished their arguments on Tuesday, and the government lawyers’ arguments were held on Wednesday and Thursday before lunch.
Tirthraj Bhattarai, City Magistrate of Patan High Court, said that the hearing had concluded after the defendant’s counsel submitted a counterargument after noon on Thursday.
The case is kept under ‘watchlist’ in the bench of the two judges. According to Bhattarai, the order would most likely be issued on Friday.
A case was filed against 22 people, including former Deputy Prime Minister and UML leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, former Home Minister and Congress leader Bal Krishna Khand, and then Home Secretary Teknarayan Pandey, for their roles in posing as Bhutanese refugees and transporting them to America.
On Ashadh 1 (June 16), the Kathmandu District Court ruled that all of the accused, with the exception of two, be transported to Dhuna for preliminary inquiry. Those who had been held filed an appeal with the High Court against the detention order.
