The High Public Prosecutor's Office, Patan, has overturned the decision of the District Public Prosecutor's Office, Kathmandu, not to prosecute Mahendra Gautam, who was arrested on charges of arson in Singha Durbar. The High Public Prosecutor's Office has asked for an investigation against him and a case to be filed within the deadline.

The District Attorney's Office, Kathmandu, had recommended not to prosecute Gautam, who was arrested on charges of setting fire to Singha Durbar during the Genji protest on 24 Bhadra, saying that there was no basis or reason to prosecute him.

The District Attorney's Office, Kathmandu, had also been embroiled in controversy as soon as it made this decision. The District Attorney's Office, Kathmandu, had also written a letter to the police on 22 Falgun, saying that there was no evidence or basis to prosecute him, who was arrested on 22 Magh.

It was criticized that deciding not to prosecute a person who had admitted to burning down a government office would be a wrong criminal practice.

Ramhari Kafle, head of the District Attorney's Office, Kathmandu, said that since the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office had requested that a case be filed in Gautam's case, a case would now be registered in the district court.

Gautam himself had posted a video claiming to have set fire to Singha Durbar. He was arrested by the police 5 months after the incident. The District Court, Kathmandu, had issued a summons and detained him for investigation. Gautam had boasted that he had returned after setting fire to Singha Durbar.

The police had arrested Gautam of Chitwan on the basis of the video and initiated an investigation. At the time of arresting Gautam, the police had obtained an arrest warrant from the Kathmandu District Court using the same video as the basis.

The District Attorney argued that the video was a basis for the arrest at the time and that an arrest warrant was obtained on that basis, but no further evidence was found during the investigation. But the High Court has rejected that.

Since he has already been released, a case will now be filed in the District Court on the grounds of absconding. The Constitution has given the Attorney General the final authority to decide whether or not to prosecute a person on behalf of the Government of Nepal. The authority to prosecute includes technical matters such as who to prosecute, what offenses to prosecute, how much punishment to seek, and more.

It has been argued that the Attorney General and his subordinate government attorneys have been misusing this power to prosecute some of the equally involved persons and acquit others, to prosecute other crimes that carry lesser punishments even though they are involved in serious crimes, and to forcibly prosecute more than necessary matters.

Article 158, Clause (2) of the Constitution gives the Attorney General the authority to prosecute cases. Since the Attorney General has delegated this authority to the District Government Attorney's Office, it is recommended that the case not be prosecuted if no evidence is found to prosecute the case.

'In cases in which the rights, interests or concerns of the Government of Nepal are vested, the Attorney General or his subordinate government attorneys shall represent the Government of Nepal. Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, the Attorney General shall have the final authority to decide whether or not to prosecute a case on behalf of the Government of Nepal before any court or judicial body or authority,' the said article states.

Based on this basis, on February 21, the District Attorney's Office had recommended to the High Attorney's Office that there was no basis to file a charge sheet against Gautam, while District Attorney Govinda Prasad Humagain had also written a letter to the Kathmandu Police Complex asking for Gautam's release.

Gautam has been released after the letter from the Attorney's Office. The arrested Gautam was a resident of Khairhani Municipality-9, Chitwan and was currently residing in Anamnagar, Kathmandu Metropolitan City-29. He had said in the video, "We broke the gate of Singha Durbar and entered and set fire to all offices, starting from the Home Ministry."

He was also given an extension of time by the Kathmandu District Court for criminal nuisance. Ishwori Prasad Dhakal, Chief of the High Attorney's Office, Patan, said that the file received from the District Attorney's Office stating that the case should not be prosecuted is under study and a decision will be made by Wednesday after reviewing the grounds and reasons sent by the District Attorney's Office.