Former president of the Nepal Bar Association, Gopal Krishna Ghimire, has been acquitted in a contempt of court case.

A joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Shantisingh Thapa and Saranga Subedi delivered the verdict on Monday, acquitting Ghimire.

During the tenure of the then Chief Justice Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, a contempt case was registered against Ghimire after the Supreme Court administration raised the issue. A contempt case was filed against Bar President Ghimire in Asoj 2081 based on a contempt report filed by the then Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court and Govinda Prasad Ghimire. In the contempt case filed against Bar President Ghimire by the Supreme Court administration, it was claimed that the then Chief Justice Bishwambhar Prasad Ghimire had made misleading and baseless statements. After the Judicial Council meeting on 11 Asoj 2081 recommended Nripadhwaj Niraula and Nityanand Pandey as Supreme Court judges, Bar President Ghimire made a statement that Chief Justice Vishwambhar Prasad Shrestha had ‘recommended the judges based on the transactions and to reconcile the accounts he had taken’. He was the Bar President at the time. Ghimire made such a statement after being recommended for appointment as a judge in the Supreme Court despite opposing the amendment to the Bar Judicial Council Regulations. Then, a case was filed for contempt of court. The Bar had been advocating for the dismissal of the case by submitting a written response.