Kathmandu, July 27
The Patan High Court has upheld the Kathmandu District Court’s decision to acquit former speaker and CPN-Maoist Centre leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara of a rape charge.
The District Court had acquitted Mahara of the charge of February 17, 2020, but the government had filed an appeal at the higher court. But, a division bench of judges Madhav Prasad Pokharel and Bimal Subedi on Tuesday said the government’s appeal could not be justified, informs the court’s spokesperson Amrita Kumari Sharma.
Mahara was kept in police custody from November 4, 2019, to February 17, 2020, when a single bench of Judge Amar Raj Paudel today gave him a clean chit.
The Kathmandu District Court had made the decision to acquit Mahara as the alleged victim gave statements against the allegation whereas some forensic examinations also did not support the government attorney’s claim.
After being accused of trying to rape a staffer at the Federal Parliament Secretariat, Mahara had resigned from his position in the first week of October 2019. He was arrested for investigation in the same week.
Though Mahara, as well as the alleged victim, denied the charge later, the government attorney had filed the case based on the available circumstantial evidence.
