Kathmandu, January 5
The Supreme Court acquitted Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in the contempt of court case.
Dahal, accused of contempt due to a seven-year-old speech, was acquitted by the joint bench of justices Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Kumar Regmi of the Supreme Court.
The full text of the judgment will be released soon.
The chair of the Maoist Center, Pushpa Kamal Dahal had given a controversial statement regarding the armed conflict. Senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi and others filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking it to take action against Dahal.
The hearing on the case ended in October 2023.
During the May 2016 meeting of Maoist activists at City Hall, Dahal expressed that a conspiracy was unfolding against him and the party at Nepal’s courts. Expressing his frustration, he said that the court was being manipulated against the Maoists, an occurrence he perceived as continuous and pervasive.
This sentiment arose during the arrest of Maoist activist Chabilal Adhikari on murder charges. In the heat of his discontent, Dahal made a controversial statement implying that the court’s actions were hindering the peace process.
In response to this statement, the then-advocate Tripathi lodged a writ petition in the Supreme Court, urging the court to initiate proceedings on charges of contempt against Dahal for his outspoken remarks.
