Former speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara has been released after posting a bail of Rs 2 million.
The Patan High Court on Thursday ordered the release of Mahara, who was in judicial custody in connection with the smuggling of gold through e-cigarettes (vapes), on a Rs 2 million bail.
According to Deepak Kumar Shrestha, the court’s information officer, Mahara was released after submitting the bail amount to the Kathmandu District Court following the high court's order.
On Thursday, a bench of Judges Arjun Prasad Koirala and Tejendra Prasad Sharma Sapkota issued the order for his release on bail.
"Based on the evidence available at present, there does not appear to be a situation requiring the defendant to be kept in judicial custody for trial. Therefore, the Kathmandu District Court’s order of October 15 to keep the defendant in judicial custody is found to be improper and is hereby quashed," the order stated.
The district court had stated that based on Mahara's phone call to Arun Pokharel, the chief administrator of the Tribhuvan International Airport Customs Office, and statements given by Mahara, his son, and a document signed by Pokharel, it could not be concluded yet that Mahara was not guilty.
Prosecutors had sought a fine of Rs 85.53 million along with imprisonment of more than 3 years against him.
Mahara had appealed to the Patan High Court against the Kathmandu District Court's order.
On December 25, 2022, a Chinese national named Li Hansong, arriving on a FlyDubai flight, had brought a large number of vapes in his luggage. These vapes contained 9 kg of gold. The smuggling came to light only after the gold was stolen from the airport customs itself.
An investigation launched by the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police revealed Mahara's connection with the smuggling’s kingpin, Daojin Wang. Although the CIB presented this connection in its chart during the first phase of the investigation, a case was not filed against him at the time. Later, an inquiry commission formed to investigate the gold smuggling recommended prosecuting Mahara as well.
The CIB arrested Mahara from Kapilvastu on March 18, 2024. At that time, a case was not filed against him. He was released on personal guarantee after his statement was recorded.
