AG office to challenge Prasai’s bail in SC

KATHMANDU: The Office of the Attorney General has decided to file a petition at the Supreme Court challenging the Patan High Court’s decision to release medical entrepreneur Durga Prasai on bail.

Prasai had been remanded in custody in connection with two separate cases — one related to a royalist movement organized earlier this year and the other involving banking fraud.

However, a joint bench of Justices Dilliratna Shrestha and Tankaprasad Gurung at the Patan High Court overturned the Kathmandu District Court’s order for judicial custody and instead granted Prasai release on bail.

He was released Monday evening from Dillibazar prison after posting the required bail amount of Rs 300,000.

The Attorney General’s Office argues that the high court’s order is legally flawed and undermines the gravity of the charges.

According to Office spokesperson Uddhav Prasad Pudasaini, the order violates established legal principles, the Criminal Procedure Code 2074 (2017), and in particular, Clause 67, which stipulates that in cases involving serious charges like attempted murder, organized crime, or homicide — all of which carry a sentence of more than three years — the accused must be held in custody during trial.

“This decision does not promote the rule of law,” Pudasaini stated. “We are moving to the Supreme Court with a petition demanding that the order be annulled.”

Earlier, the Kathmandu District Court had ruled that there was sufficient preliminary evidence to justify placing Prasai in custody during the trial.

The Attorney General’s Office has also directed the Patan High Government Attorney’s Office to conduct a detailed review of the high court’s decision and submit a report with legal recommendations.

Sources at the Attorney General’s Office confirmed that all necessary legal preparations are being made to file the petition as soon as possible, with the aim of having Prasai remanded back into custody for further proceedings.