SC calls Resham Chaudhary arrest order unauthorized

KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court has declared that the arrest order issued against Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) leader Resham Chaudhary was unauthorized and not representative of the court’s official stance.

According to Assistant Spokesperson of the Supreme Court, Nirajan Pandey, the letter authorizing the arrest was not an official document of the court. “The directive was based solely on the personal decision of court officer Mahiman Singh Bista,” Pandey stated.

Following this revelation, the Supreme Court has initiated legal proceedings against Bista under the applicable laws.

He has already been taken into custody by a team from the Kathmandu Police, who apprehended him directly from the Supreme Court premises.

Bista, who served as an officer in the Supreme Court’s Case and Writ Section, had issued a letter that effectively overturned a prior presidential pardon granted to Chaudhary by President Ramchandra Paudel.

It was on the basis of this controversial letter that police arrested Chaudhary on Wednesday from the premises of the Nepal Academy, where he was attending a program.

Chaudhary, the patron of the Nagarik Unmukti Party, was taken into custody just hours before a highly anticipated unification announcement between his party and CK Raut’s Janamat Party.

The arrest has sparked political and legal controversy, with many questioning how a single court officer could override a presidential amnesty and act without official approval from the Supreme Court.