The vandalism and arson that occurred on 24 Bhadra damaged 23 courthouses across the country, including the Supreme Court and Kathmandu District Court. Ten courts were completely damaged, nine partially damaged, and four had minor damage. However, most courts have now resumed normal justice.

Informing that the partially and moderately damaged court buildings have been repaired and are being used, Supreme Court Information Officer Neerajan Pandey said that temporary arrangements have been made to ensure that the right to justice is not hindered in the completely damaged courts. The Supreme Court has started hearings by constructing some benches in the annex building, while the Kathmandu District Court is preparing to operate from the Civil Aviation Authority building.

Courts outside Kathmandu have started hearings by repairing the burnt buildings and setting up benches. Most of the damaged courts initially heard only habeas corpus cases. Regular hearings have also started since the second week of Kartik.

Along with the regular hearings that were stopped due to the Supreme Court's server not being recovered, all courts have started hearing writs, general applications and regular cases. Information Officer Pandey said that there are still problems in the completely damaged courts.

Supreme Court serving from annex building

Most of the files, including the bench and chambers, in the main building of the Supreme Court were burnt during the protest on Bhadra 24. In the Supreme Court, which has 24,000 ongoing cases, about 20,000 and about 197,000 archive files were completely destroyed by fire. According to Supreme Court spokesperson Arjun Koirala, the justice service has not been fully operational even after one and a half months since the damage occurred. The Supreme Court has only opened writs, detention cases and some petitions. He said that there has been a delay as the work of setting up and verifying files is still going on to operate other services.

Although the main building is not functional, the Supreme Court, which has started hearing petitions for habeas corpus since the end of Bhadra by setting up a bench in a temporary tent, has started hearing writs by setting up a bench in the adjoining annex building this week. ‘The hearing has started by setting up four benches in the annex building,’ Koirala said, ‘It seems likely that it will continue from here for a few more months. Efforts are being made to administer justice through suffering.'

Kathmandu District Court

Kathmandu District Court was also heavily damaged during the protests. Five benches and five chambers of its main building were completely destroyed by fire, and 3,700 active files and about 400,000 archive files were also completely destroyed. District Court Registrar Tirtharaj Bhattarai informed that work is being done from three to four benches in a small building next to the main building as the main building is unfit for occupancy. Bhattarai said that even though the Civil Aviation Authority building has been acquired, it will take some time to complete the construction of the bench, from the construction to the field.

High Court Biratnagar

The arson that occurred on 24 Bhadra also destroyed the judicial history records in the High Court building in Biratnagar, the Chief Justice's quarters, the guest house and the bench officer's office. Information Officer Santosh Pokharel said that although all the services of the court have been brought into operation, the infrastructure and equipment are not sufficient. He says, 'It has also been difficult to perform work as many of the court's computers have been stolen. In the archives branch alone, 3,234 files have been completely destroyed, while only 1,400 files have been saved.'

According to Pokharel, the arson destroyed records, landowner papers, precedents and judgments of citizens that had been under protection since 2010. After general repairs and painting, work has now started from the same burnt building. Pokharel says, 'This work is not easy. It is difficult to reopen old cases in the absence of records.'

Maintenance service starts at Chitwan District Court

The Chitwan District Court, which was not spared from the arson and vandalism of 24 Bhadra, had started processing habeas corpus petitions, extending the time limit, issuing urgent arrest warrants and CDR services from 30 Bhadra. The court is working despite the lack of computers and furniture in the courtroom. Even the files and documents of the case have been destroyed due to the arson. ‘A notice has been issued to the petitioners of 670 files related to ongoing cases at the time of the arson to contact them within 30 days. With this notice, we have started regular court services from Kartik 11,’ said Amrit Bishwakarma, Information Officer of Chitwan Court. Out of the eight sections in the court, some files from sections 5, 6 and 7 have been saved.

Similarly, work is underway by preparing four of the eight benches that are in working condition and one bench in Tohro. ‘Although the service has started, there are many problems. Work has started amidst shortages,’ said Bishwakarma, ‘New case registration and other processes have started. The benches have been repaired and prepared. Many things are workable.’ Earlier, at least one case was heard in each of the eight benches, but now not even two or four cases have been heard in a day. For security in the court, police are stationed under the command of a Deputy Inspector of Police (SI). Bishwakarma said that the court has also deployed staff at night for supervision.

Hetauda bench in full operation from Sunday

The Hetauda bench of the Patan High Court has become fully operational from Sunday. The court had started partial services including habeas corpus and permission for arrest warrants from 29 Bhadra. Work including appeal and writ registration has also been started from 16 Asoj. Hearing of cases and writ petitions started from Sunday, said Badri Prasad Lamichhane, Deputy Registrar of the Hetauda bench.

Bench number one out of the four benches in the main building of the Hetauda bench has been destroyed in the arson attack. According to Deputy Registrar Lamichhane, all the files in the court are safe. There are currently 881 cases pending in the Hetauda bench, which has two district jurisdictions, Makawanpur and Chitwan. The court is currently administering justice from its own building.

Tanahun court to schedule cases from Mangsir

The Tanahun District Court, which was destroyed by the arson on Bhadra 24, will schedule cases only from Mangsir 1. The court had started issuing handwritten notices for cases related to reconciliation, relationship establishment, indictment, arrest warrant permission and extension of time, custodial interrogation and marriage registration from Bhadra 29. ‘Currently, we are providing partial services. There are no chairs to sit, no tables, no computers and printers, smooth service delivery is not possible in such a situation,’ said the court’s clerk Nanda Prasad Acharya. The court has been increasing service delivery by making use of computers, printers, tables, chairs and other materials provided by various organizations and individuals.

‘Due to the fire, all the files and records of the court have been burnt to ashes,’ said the clerk Acharya, ‘More than 1,000 ongoing cases and 1,611 records have been completely destroyed. The court’s hard disk has been stolen. Two of the three courtrooms were burnt down and are no longer functional, so preparations are underway to conduct the work from the remaining courtroom.'

The court has stated that the cases decided from 29 Mangsir 2064 to 17 Asar 2069 have been completely destroyed in the fire. Similarly, all the cases registered in the court but not decided have been burnt down. The court is currently trying to restructure the files of the ongoing cases, said Shrestedar Acharya.

said, 'For this, preparations are being made to proceed only after verifying the documents in coordination with the district police, the parties to the case and the concerned bodies.' Acharya said that a notice has been issued to the parties to those cases to bring copies of their cases. According to him, about 70 percent of the documents have been collected so far.

Kaski Court: Sessions are held wherever there is space

Kaski District Court is operating from tents, pavilions and damaged buildings. Sessions are held wherever there is space. Shrestedar Rajan Khanal's room, which became vacant after he went on leave, was made session number two on Friday. The work of setting up tents in the court premises before Tihar has now been shifted to the Kaski District Bar Association building. The court work, which was partially carried out before Tihar, has been fully operational since 11 Kartik. The court session is also being held in the judge's residence in the court premises, a building damaged by the arson. The main court building has been reduced to rubble due to the arson and is not being used. A yellow sticker has also been pasted on another building next door. Two sessions are held on the upper floor of this building.

There are 8 sessions in the Kaski District Court. Out of these, 7 were held because one judge was transferred before the movement. After the Tihar holiday, one, two to five sessions have been held. Despite the shortage, all work has started, said Ram Bahadur Kisan, Information Officer of the District Court, Kaski. "The physical structure, missiles, and equipment have been destroyed by fire. There were 55-60 computers. All of them have been burned. We are in the process of replenishing them," he said.

From 29 Bhadra, the Kaski Court had started the service of extension of time, permission for call details, approval of urgent arrest warrant, permission for arrest warrant, application for custodial interrogation, statement and detention of the defendants who were presented with the charge sheet, marriage registration, certification of official inheritance, application as per Section 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 2074, and amendment of prisoner certificates. These works were done by setting up a tent in the court premises and cleaning the remaining rooms.

From 26 Ashoj, cases of a settlement nature were started. Since the files of the registered ongoing cases and cases for which a verdict is yet to be prepared were destroyed by burning, the court has started working from 26 Ashoj for the purpose of creating files. The court has issued a notice to the parties who come to appear in the case/create files with the complaint, reply, statement, date sheet, order and other documents and evidence that they or the legal practitioner have and appear at the relevant field.

The court has set a deadline for the parties who have to appear on the date of the case from 23 Bhadra to 10 Kartik and the parties whose case registration deadline expires during this period to take a date and register the case by 10 Mangsir. The court's notice states that if the work is not done within this period, the deadline will expire. Information Officer Kisan said that 30 percent of the 70,000 files and records in the Kaski Court have been damaged.

Banke and Tulsipur courts in partial operation

Banke District Court has only partially operated its services. Information Officer Tirtharaj Acharya informed that the court has not been able to operate fully due to lack of resources. 'It has become difficult to work after all the equipment including the court's computers, printers, photocopy machines have been burnt,' he said. 'A decision can be taken on where and how to resume the service after the technical team comes and studies it.' He said that only 770 case files are safe in the court at present. Two/three courtrooms have been brought into operation in the court in turn.

Similarly, after the building was damaged beyond use due to arson, the administrative work of the Tulsipur High Court has been conducted from the police security barracks and the courtroom garage, said the court's registrar, Yama Prasad Baskota. The court, which was completely closed for five days after the arson, has started regular hearings by forming a temporary bench from 26 Ashoja. Work is underway to collect documents from old cases that were destroyed by the arson and new writs and applications from the district court, Baskota informed. Important documents and physical damage was caused after the protesters attacked and set fire to the court. The destruction of documents and the building has caused problems in the operation of regular services.

4 benches in Butwal High Court regular

The Butwal bench of the Tulsipur High Court in Butwal, Rupandehi has not yet been fully operational. Out of the 6 benches, only four are currently in operation due to lack of space. The court's meeting room has been used for the session. Due to the arson, 22,277 case records have been completely destroyed. The floor that houses two sessions, records, benches and a mediation room is in a state of disrepair, said Ram Bahadur Kunwar, the court's information officer.

'The most damage was on the third floor, where there were files and records of about 23,000 cases,' he said. 'Since the fire damaged so much that it is not possible to live on that floor even after repairing it, there is now a shortage of space for the session itself.' The High Court has requested the concerned person to provide the files, documents and evidence of the registered case files that have been destroyed as per the Burnt File Recovery and Authentication Directive 2082.