The Supreme Court has sought a written response in a contempt of court case filed against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) office-bearers.
A bench of Justices Binod Sharma and Mahesh Sharma Paudel on Tuesday ordered the defendants to submit a written response to the court.
Earlier, on November 26, a bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Sharma and Nripadhwaj Niraula had ordered submission of additional details related to the case.
Advocate Anupam Bhattarai had brought a petition to the apex court on October 30 accusing RSP leaders of holding demonstrations in contempt of court. But Joint Registrar Achyut Kuinkel refused to register the petition. Bhattarai then filed an application to reconsider the petition.
On November 12, a bench of Justice Binod Sharma revoked the court administration’s decision and ordered registration of the petition. The contempt case was subsequently registered on November 14 as per the court’s order.
The petition also says that RSP’s acting spokesperson and lawmaker Manish Jha had raised questions about the judge in Pokhara.
Advocate Bhattarai has named RSP’s central office-bearers, RSP Bagmati province President Achyutam Lamichhane, lawmakers Manish Jha, Swarnim Wagle, Sumana Shrestha, Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, Toshima Karki, Sobita Gautam, Ashok Kumar Chaudhary, Asim Shah, Ganesh Parajuli, Chanda Karki, Dol Prasad Aryal, Nisha Dangi, Bindabasini Kansakar, Binita Kathayat, Laxmi Tiwari, Shiva Nepali, Shishir Khanal, Santosh Pariyar, and Hari Dhakal as defendants.
RSP President Rabi Lamichhane was arrested on charges of cooperative fraud and organized crime on October 18. RSP had then held street protests accusing the government of arresting Lamichhane for political vendetta.
