Rajeev Gurung, also known as Deepak Manange, who was removed from his position as a member of the Gandaki provincial assembly from Manang Constituency 'B,' has been barred from contesting elections for an additional six years even after completing his prison sentence.
On June 18, the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court removed Gurung from his position as a provincial assembly member. The full text of the verdict has now been made public.
The Constitutional Bench, comprising Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut, and Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Phuyal, and Kumar Chudal, cited legal provisions that disqualify Gurung from contesting elections for an additional six years.
"Rajeev Gurung, alias Deepak Manange, having been sentenced to imprisonment for five years in an attempted murder case, is deemed ineligible to be a candidate in any election for six years after completing the sentence," the verdict states.
The Supreme Court has declared Gurung ineligible to serve as a provincial assembly member effective from November 5, 2024.
"As per constitutional and legal provisions, it is evident that the respondent is legally ineligible to become a provincial assembly member from November 5, 2024, the date of the Supreme Court’s final ruling in the attempted murder case," the verdict notes.
The Constitutional Bench disqualified Gurung based on two legal provisions.
First, Article 178 (1) (e) of the Constitution stipulates that only individuals not disqualified by any law are eligible to be provincial assembly members.
Similarly, Section 13 (g) of the Provincial Assembly Election Act, 2017, states that a person sentenced to five years or more of imprisonment for any offense other than those specified in sub-sections (d) and (e) is ineligible to be a candidate in an election until six years have passed from the date of completing the sentence.
On November 5, 2024, the Supreme Court sentenced Gurung to five years in prison, upholding the decision made by the Patan High Court on August 12, 2012. Gurung had filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on May 6, 2018. He still had two years and four months of his sentence remaining at the time.
He is currently serving his sentence in Dilli Bazar Prison.
The Constitutional Bench, however, acknowledged the validity of the process through which Gurung contested and won the election. It did not declare his election invalid, stating that the Supreme Court had not delivered its verdict when Gurung contested and won the election and became a provincial assembly member.
"Since it cannot be said that Rajeev Gurung, also known as Deepak Manange, was not eligible at the time of filing his nomination and during the announcement of the election results, the entire process of the election for provincial assembly member for Manang Constituency No. 2, from where he was elected, need not be declared invalid. To that extent, no order needs to be issued as per the demand of the petition," the Supreme Court states in its verdict.
Gurung was convicted by the Supreme Court for an incident on May 13, 2004, where he attacked Milan Gurung, also known as ‘Chakre Milan,’ with a sword, severing his hand.
A bench of Supreme Court Justices Nahakul Subedi and Tek Prasad Dhungana upheld the decision of the then Patan Appellate Court (now Patan High Court).
Gurung had already served two years and eight months in prison and been released before that.
