Patan High Court seeks report in bail plea of ex-deputy PM Rayamajhi

KATHMANDU: The Patan High Court has ordered the Kathmandu District Court to submit a case record in connection with the bail petition filed by former Deputy Prime Minister and CPN-UML leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, who is currently in judicial custody in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam.

A single bench of Justice Gopal Prasad Bastola issued the order on Friday after hearing Rayamajhi’s petition challenging the district court’s refusal to grant him release from detention.

Rayamajhi had earlier filed an application at the Kathmandu District Court seeking release under Section 71(2) of the National Criminal Procedure Code, 2074. However, the district court declined to release him, prompting an appeal to the High Court.

Following the appeal, the High Court has sought a detailed report explaining the basis of the lower court’s decision.

Section 71(2) of the Code provides that an accused detained under Sections 67 or 68 may be released at any stage of the proceedings if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accused is not guilty of the alleged offense. Rayamajhi had relied on this provision in his application for release.

Earlier, on 2080 Asar 1 BS, a bench of Kathmandu District Court Judge Prem Prasad Neupane ordered Rayamajhi and 15 others to be remanded in custody for trial. Subsequent attempts to secure his release from the High Court and the Supreme Court were also unsuccessful.

In the fake Bhutanese refugee scam, the Kathmandu District Government Attorney’s Office filed charges on 2080 Jestha 10 BS against Rayamajhi and 29 others on charges including fraud, forgery, organized crime, and crimes against the state.

The case involves allegations of deceiving Nepali citizens by promising to send them to the United States as Bhutanese refugees in exchange for large sums of money.