The Supreme Court has dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed for release of medical entrepreneur Durga Prasai.
On Wednesday, a bench of Justices Mahesh Sharma Paudel and Nityananda Pandey issued an order quashing the petition.
Prasai’s son Nirajan had filed the petition on his behalf at the Supreme Court after his arrest. He had named the Ministry of Home Affairs, Police Headquarters, Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police, and Kathmandu District Court as defendants.
On Sunday, the Supreme Court ordered the defendants to appear in court along with Prasai. He was accordingly presented before the court on Tuesday.
Also on Sunday, a bench of Kathmandu District Court Judge Kamala Paudel remanded Prasai to custody for five more days. The bench also ordered that arrangements for Prasai’s treatment saying he is a cancer patient.
Prasai was arrested on November 19 after he accused Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli of grave crime. The CIB arrested Prasai from his residence in Bhaktapur on the charge of cyber crime.
Prasai, who was close to Oli in the past and publicly adresses the PM as grandpa, was made central member of CPN-UML by the latter. He was later removed from the party after he started a political campaign along with former king Gyanendra Shah and his son Paras on February 13, 2023.
Prasai has revealed documents provided by another person alleging that PM Oli has invested Rs 32.50 billion in a telecom company in Cambodia through a video call.
Screenshot of the allegation has been widely shared on the social media on Tuesday and some media outlets have even made news report of the allegation.
A Facebook handle named Anup Nepal has posted a video of that screenshot. The handle with image of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane as profile picture has stated that the evidence was acquired by Prasai who has been waging a campaign to save the nation, nationalism, religion-culture and citizens for some time.
Prasai has been making such allegations against Oli for some time.
Prasai has pointed in his allegation that Oli had told the House that he will add some amount on the invested amount and give to the person who proves that he has invested in Cambodia after Prasai made allegation to that regard. He has added that he took initiative to acquire verified document showing Oli has shares worth $ 210 million (around Rs 32.5 billion). "I have brought that document after getting it verified as he will claim that it is fake. I am making that public," Prasai stated. s after that.
Yoho television has broadcast a video with Prasai's allegation.
The document presented by Prasai does not just have a different signature of Oli but also wrongly mentioned Khadka Prasad Oli as the PM's name.
Prasai was also arrested by the Cyber Bureau from his residence in Bhaktpur on September 22 on charge of cyber crime.
A team from the Cyber Bureau arrested Prasai from his residence in Bhaktpur on September 22. Later the same day, the Kathmandu District Court remanded him to custody for three days according to Section 47 of the Electronic Transactions Act.
On September 23, Prasai’s son Nirajan had filed a habeas corpus petition at the apex court seeking his release. Nirajan had named the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police as defendants in the petition.
Responding to the petition on September 24, Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut’s bench refused to release Prasai. The court issued a show cause notice ordering the defendants to submit a written response within 15 days.
On September 25, the Kathmandu District Court extended Prasai’s custody by five days. The court on October 1 had then ordered Prasai be released after posting a bail bond of Rs 50,000 each in two separate cases.
Prasai has been involved in many controversies and in the past has campaigned for non-payment of bank loans. He has also made disparaging remarks against students studying medicine in Bangladesh in the past and has levied outrageous allegations against leaders from many political parties.
Prasai’s bodyguards Deepak Khadka and Ram Kumar Dhimal were arrested from the Supreme Court premises in March when they were entering the court for a hearing related to Prasai. Along with the gun, police also recovered two small magazines, two big magazines, one magazine holder, and 100 rounds of bullet inside a black bag from the two.
They were later charged under the Arms and Ammunition Act.
