She had reached the court after Om Prakash Mandal, the accused in the murder of Jantridas Bairagi, a priest of the Ramjanaki Temple located in the then Belhi Chapena VDC-3, fled after appointing the ward chairperson as acting chairperson.
What you should know
Following the order of the High Court, Janakpur, Rajbiraj bench, Renu Devi Mandal, vice-chairperson of Rajgadh Rural Municipality in Saptari, has been appointed as the acting chairperson. She had reached the court after Om Prakash Mandal, the accused in the murder of Jantridas Bairagi, a priest of the Ramjanaki Temple located in the then Belhi Chapena VDC-3, absconded after appointing the ward chairperson as acting chairperson.
In a single-judge bench hearing on Sunday, Judge Ujjwal Shukla of the court ruled that the letter given to the ward chairperson was illegal and issued an interim order to make him act as the acting chairperson.
The rural municipality chairperson has absconded after giving the acting chairperson of ward number 4 Ashok Kumar Sah a letter of acting chairperson on Karthik 17, effective from Mangsir 19. The vice-chairperson had sought an interim order by making the rural municipality the defendant, citing Section 18(2) of Section 16(4) of the Local Government Operation Act, 2074 BS, nullifying the letter given to the ward chairperson and making her the acting chairperson in his absence.
The court also held that the letter violated the law and issued an interim order in the name of the defendant, ordering him not to obstruct or obstruct the exercise of his responsibilities as per Section 16(4) of the same Act, including Section 16(4) of Section 16(2).
When the murder case of 3 Shrawan 2055 was ongoing, the bench of District Court Judge Hemant Rawal adjourned the case on 14 Falgun 2079 when the 7 accused including Mandal did not appear within the time limit issued by the court and the police did not arrest them.
Even though the arrest warrant was issued on 15 Baisakh 2078, he was elected as the chairman of the CPN-UML in the local level elections held on 30 Baisakh 2079. The case was adjourned about 10 months after he was elected.
The charge sheet states that Mandal, along with his father, the then Belhi Chapena VDC chairman Gangaram Mandal, Ram Narayan Mandal, Ramdev Sada Musahar, Manik Sharma, Bachcha Yadav alias Baukai, and Volichan Sada Musahar, jointly murdered the priest Bairagi. According to the letter, the murder was committed over a dispute over Mandal's father Gangaram refusing to give 11 bighas of paddy land to the temple.
