The Supreme Court has issued show cause notice in the writ petition filed against Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Nepal Samajwadi Party Chairman Baburam Bhattarai accusing them of using child soldiers during the Maoist insurgency.
A single bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla hearing the petition issued the show cause notice and also ordered the court to prioritize the case, according to the SC website.
Lenin Bista, Krishna Prasad Dangal and others—who were disqualified by the United Nations during the verification process for Maoist combatants—filed the writ application in the SC alleging that they had been used as child soldiers.
Bista is the chairman of Discharged People’s Liberation Army Nepal while Dangal is its founder.
The SC administration initially refused to register the petition on May 30. But a bench of Justice Ananda Mohan Bhattarai on Friday issued an order to the court administration to register the petition. The petition was registered on Sunday accordingly.
The writ petition has made PM Dahal, former PM Bhattarai, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, National Human Rights Commission and others the defendants.
The petitioners have stated that they have not received justice even after more than 16 years of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. They have demanded that they be identified as child soldiers and provided compensation.
