Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) lawmaker Dhawal Shumsher Rana has been released on bail.
On Monday, a bench of Kathmandu District Court Judge Shiva Prasad Khanal ordered Rana to pay a bail of Rs 300,000. He was released after depositing the bail amount.
The court noted that it could not conclusively declare him completely innocent of the offense of criminal mischief. Judge Khanal also considered Rana's health condition as a basis for releasing him on bail.
“Based on the incident report, which shows vandalism, criminal mischief and damage at the scene, it cannot be said that the defendant, Dhawal Shumsher JBR, is entirely innocent,” the order stated. “Given that the case file indicates he is undergoing treatment for a serious illness, he is to be released for now on a cash bail of Rs 300,000, or equivalent property surety or bank guarantee, pending trial.”
The court also observed that ATF, PDF, RTF could not be declared as criminal groups at present and that there was no clear evidence to prove Rana mobilized them.
Although there was no clear evidence to show Rana's direct participation in vandalism or criminal mischief, the court noted, he had admitted to making statements such as “We will move forward, not fear the police. Today is the day to end federalism and the republic” during the incident.
While the court stated that Rana could be deemed entirely innocent of criminal mischief, it also noted that there was no reasonable basis at this stage to fully believe he is guilty of offenses against the state or organized crime.
Rana, who was previously released on personal guarantee, had not been in contact with the police or the court recently. He appeared in court voluntarily on Monday.
RPP Senior Vice-chairman Rabindra Mishra was also previously released on personal guarantee. However, has not appeared for court proceedings since.
When the case related to the Tinkune incident of March 28 was filed, neither Rana nor Mishra was present in court.
Rana was arrested on the night of March 28. He was released on personal guarantee on April 20 due to his health.
Police tried to contact him and others on May 25 to file the case, but he was not reachable.
After failing to contact Rana, the police investigation officer even imposed a fine on Rana’s personal assistant.
On Thursday midnight, the Kathmandu District Court sent Durga Prasai and six others to judicial custody, while ordering the release of others on bail.
