The Patan High Court has quashed a writ petition filed by Shobha Pathak seeking a writ of mandamus to investigate and prosecute CPN-UML Secretary Mahesh Basnet in a rape case.
On Wednesday, a bench of Judges Somkanta Mainali and Keshav Prasad Adhikari delivered the verdict to dismiss Pathak's petition.
Two years ago, Pathak had filed a complaint accusing Basnet of rape. However, following an investigation, the District Government Attorney's Office decided to shelve the complaint, citing a lack of sufficient evidence. Pathak had moved the Patan High Court against that decision, but that petition was also dismissed.
Subsequently, Pathak filed a supplementary complaint against Basnet, accusing him of rape and feticide (forced abortion). After investigating the supplementary complaint, the government attorney's office again decided not to prosecute. Pathak then approached the Patan High Court once more to challenge this decision.
That petition was quashed on Wednesday.
"It appears the petitioner filed this writ petition seeking a mandamus to move the investigation forward by examining additional evidence mentioned in the supplementary complaint and other related evidence," the order states. "Since an order was already issued by the Kathmandu District Court on March 30, 2026, and the proceedings are found to be moving forward, there is no need to issue a writ of certiorari or mandamus as requested by the petitioner. Therefore, as the conditions requiring such an order do not exist, this writ petition is hereby quashed."
