The Supreme Court has dismissed the habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of CPN-UML Vice-chairman Bishnu Paudel, which alleged that he was being held illegally.
Supreme Court spokesperson Arjun Koirala confirmed that a bench consisting of Justices Binod Sharma and Nityananda Pandeya dismissed the petition on Thursday.
Paudel was arrested by the Department of Money Laundering Investigation on charges of money laundering.
Following his arrest, his wife, Domaya Paudel, had filed a habeas corpus petition at the Supreme Court.
Hearing the petition on Tuesday, a bench of Justices Tek Prasad Dhungana and Meghraj Pokharel had ordered the submission of case files involving money laundering, banking offenses, and securities-related charges filed by the department against businessmen Deepak Bhatta and Sulav Agrawal at the Special Court. The court had ordered that these files be presented to the bench for review and taken back afterward.
After examining these documents, the bench of Justices Sharma and Pandeya decided on Thursday to dismiss the habeas corpus petition.
Previously, on June 25, a bench of Supreme Court Justice Shreekanta Paudel had issued a show-cause order to the defendants and scheduled the next hearing for June 30.
Meanwhile, the Department has been obtaining remand extensions for Paudel from the Special Court for investigation purposes.
On Monday, the department presented Paudel before the Special Court, where a bench of Judges Narayan Prasad Paudel, Hemanta Rawal, and Umesh Koirala granted a second extension to keep him in custody for an additional three days.
Prior to this, the Special Court had initially granted a seven-day remand on June 23.
The following day, Paudel’s wife filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court, challenging his detention as unlawful.
Why was Paudel arrested?
Paudel was arrested on June 22 over his alleged connection with businessman Bhatta, who is already in custody pending trial on money laundering charges. He was brought to Kathmandu in a public van the same night.
Investigators have linked Paudel to a transaction involving the sale of a 20 percent stake in Shree Ram Tobacco Industries Pvt Ltd, purchased by Himalayan Assets Management Pvt Ltd, a company under Bhatta's sole control.
Prosecutors told the court that the 20 percent shares had a book value of approximately Rs 300 million but were sold for only Rs 37.5 million.
During court proceedings seeking Paudel's detention, the prosecution argued that while serving as finance minister, he abused his political influence to facilitate the transaction and helped Bhatta launder more than Rs 262.5 million.
Prosecutors also alleged that after the discounted share transaction, Paudel facilitated the import of areca nuts for Shree Ram Tobacco Industries while serving as finance minister.
Other allegations raised during the hearing were that Paudel helped facilitate a license for Himalayan Reinsurance, assisted seven insurance companies in obtaining operating licenses, and initiated plans to secure a license for the Janakpur Cigarette Factory.
They mentioned that the Department of Money Laundering Investigation had also cited statements from Chunnu Prasad Sharma and Kamal Kishor Malpani as part of the basis for Paudel's arrest.
Sharma, a businessman who contested the last general election from Rupandehi-2 as a candidate of the Nepali Congress, reportedly told investigators that when Bhatta was brought in as a partner, then-finance minister Paudel had agreed to facilitate approvals from government agencies, support business expansion, and, in return, receive a beneficial interest through the allocation of a 20 percent stake in Shree Ram Tobacco Industries.
Prosecutors argued that this statement formed a key basis for Paudel's arrest.
The investigation also alleges that although the book value of Shree Ram Tobacco's shares was Rs 816.71 per share, 375,000 shares were sold at Rs 100 per share.
Lawyers representing Paudel have denied the allegations, arguing that he was arrested without evidence and solely on the basis of statements.
