Nepal SC issues show cause notice; asks PM Prachanda to furnish written reply within 15 days

The petition brought by advocate Gyanendra Aran and other victims of Maoist insurgency was registered on Tuesday, Supreme Court sources said

The Supreme Court of Nepal on March 10, 2023 issued a show cause notice to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda on a writ petition seeking a criminal investigation against him for the killing of 5,000 people during the decade-long Maoist insurgency in the country.

The petition brought by advocate Gyanendra Aran and other victims of Maoist insurgency was registered on Tuesday, Supreme Court sources said, adding that another writ by Kalyan Budhathoki was in the registration process.

Advocates Aaran and Budhathoki, who are also conflict victims, filed separate writ petitions at the Supreme Court demanding that Prachanda be investigated and prosecuted for admitting to being responsible for the killing of at least 5,000 people during the decade-long Maoist insurgency.

During a preliminary hearing on Friday, a single bench of Justice Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada ordered the defendants including the prime minister to submit a written response within 15 days on what actually had happened and why not to issue an order as demanded by the petitioners.

The apex court said issuing an interim order was not necessary, citing there are not enough reasons to pass the order in the current context. The petitioners had demanded that the court issue an interim order to arrest Prachanda, the 68-year-old prime minister.

The order further states it would be appropriate to resolve various questions raised by the petitioners with regard to constitutional provisions, international practices and the apex court’s verdicts in connection with the transitional justice delivery only through the final hearings, The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

On January 15, 2020, while addressing a Maghi festival celebration event in Kathmandu, Prachanda said he, as the leader of the Maoist party that led the decade-long insurgency, would take the responsibility for the deaths of 5,000 people and that the state should take responsibility for the remaining deaths.