Attorney General (AG) Ramesh Badal said the case against Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) leader Resham Chaudhary convicted of murder will not be withdrawn.
"The case on which the district court and the high court have issued verdicts cannot be withdrawn. We have reconciled with the high court verdict and will not appeal with the Supreme Court (SC)," Badal said talking with media persons at his office on Wednesday.
He added that cases of explosives against cadres of Netra Bikram Chand-led CPN also will not be withdrawn.
But the Office of the Attorney General has advised the government to take back 18 cases against cadres of different parties including that of Chand and CK Raut.
JSP has been demanding withdrawal of the cases including that against Chaudhary and his release. The JSP faction of Mahantha Thakur and Rajendra Mahato is ready to ally with Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli if their demands are met.
The government accordingly has withdrawn 15 criminal cases against 120 persons as per the demand of JSP but the case against Chaudhary has not been taken back.
AG Badal said there are legal obstructions for withdrawal of the case against Chaudhary. Clause 116(8) of the National Criminal Procedure Code states 'notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in this Section, no case which is under consideration at the stage of appeal, reference, review or revision shall be subject to withdrawal.'
The Kailali District Court had slapped life sentence on Chaudhary over the Tikapur incident and the Dipayal High Court endorsed the life sentence. The case is currently sub judice at the Supreme Court (SC).
Chaudhary has been at Dilli Bazar Jail after surrendering before the Kailali District Court on February 26, 2018.
He was sworn in as House of Representatives (HoR) member on January 3, 2019 even as the case was sub judice in the district court. He remained in judicial custody and was not allowed to attend the House meeting even after being sworn in. He lost the post of lawmaker after the district court gave life sentence.
Chaudhary, who was absconding after the Kailali killings, had surrendered before the Kailali District Court on February 26, 2018. Chaudhary had lodged the candidacy for federal parliament from Kailali-1 on Rastriya Janata Party ticket through an agent. He had won the election by a margin of around 19,000 votes securing 34,341 votes.
The government had filed a case against Chaudhary in the Kaliali District Court considering him to be one of the main accused of the Tikpaur incident. The Supreme Court (SC) in December, 2017 had refused to register a writ petition he tried to file through an agent on his behalf demanding he be released on date.
The single bench of Justice Tanka Moktan had ordered Chaudhary to seek legal remedy through the court if he were innocent when he again moved the SC against the administration's decision to not register his petition. "The applicant must get acquittal through a legal process of the court if he were not guilty and the charges against him were false," the bench had said. "Knowingly allowing an accused a means of receiving the facilities and rights provided by the state by evading or defying the court process will promote impunity in the country," the bench had said.
The Kailali District Court then had slapped life sentence on him and the Dipayal High Court had endorsed the district court verdict.
