Kathmandu, July 1. The Supreme Court issued an order to show cause on Friday in response to a writ of habeas corpus filed by three arrestees connected to the Lalita Niwas land procurement scam. 

On Tuesday, former election commissioner Sudhir Kumar Shah, Bhatbhateni Supermarket Franchise proprietor Min Bahadur Gurung, and Inland Revenue Office’s former employee Dharma Prasad Gautam were apprehended by the Crime Investigation Bureau of the Nepal Police. The following day, they were presented before the Kathmandu District Court, which granted the police a seven-day custody period to continue their investigations.

On Thursday, the three arrestees registered a writ of habeas corpus on the Supreme Court. “The Supreme Court has taken cognizance of the writ and issued the show-cause order.” Supreme Court Spokesperson Bimal Paudel told reporters.

Paudel also said that the interim order issued by the Supreme Court instructs the authorities to conduct investigations in the case without holding the accused individuals in custody.

A special police team from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has been carrying out a special operation to investigate the forgery related to the illegal transfer of public property from Lalita Niwas in Baluwatar to private individuals between 2049 BS and 2069 BS. The Lalita Niwas 142-ropanis compound includes various official VIP residences, including the Prime Minister’s residence and the headquarters of Nepal Rastra Bank.

Revenue Investigation Bureau filed a revenue evasion suit

In January 2022, the Revenue Investigation Bureau filed a lawsuit for revenue evasion against ANSAN International Pvt Ltd and the audit firm Rajeswor and Company. The case was filed at the High Court Patan, accusing the companies of producing fraudulent value-added tax and financial information. The Bureau also demanded a fine of Rs 1.24 billion from the accused companies for their involvement in the Lalita Niwas scam.

CIB relaunched investigation

Following the revenue evasion suit, CIB announced the completion of a two-year inquiry into the land scam case. The bureau submitted its report to the district court of Patan, which reportedly includes the names of several high-profile Nepali individuals. 

After submitting the report, the CIB initiated another round of investigation into the case under the direction of the government attorney general.

By the end of 2021, the court had already issued arrest warrants for 300 people who face criminal charges in connection with the case.

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