Police arrested Oli and the writer this morning while implementing the report submitted by the commission led by former judge Gauri Bahadur Karki, which was formed to ascertain the truth about the Genji movement.
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The police have issued urgent arrest warrants for the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the then Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak while arresting them for investigation in the deaths that occurred during the Gen-G movement.
According to a secretary at the Attorney General's Office, the government prosecutor will have to get the court to support the urgent arrest warrants issued when Oli and Lekhak were initially arrested on Sunday. According to the law, if a person is not arrested immediately and is likely to flee or destroy evidence, the police can arrest such a person by issuing an urgent arrest warrant. In other normal cases, a court order is required to issue an arrest warrant. 'Initially, we will support the urgent warrant issued by the police today. The District Attorney's Office has prepared it for that,' he said.
Oli and Lekhak's lawyers will initially question the validity of the same urgent arrest warrant. ‘A warrant of arrest is only issued if the person concerned can escape and cannot be arrested again,’ senior advocate Tikaram Bhattarai, who provided legal advice to Oli before his arrest, told Kantipur. ‘Where would they go? Not to leave the country. Such a warrant and arrest were not necessary. The need for it is questioned.’
The police arrested Oli and Lekhak on Saturday morning while implementing the report given by the commission led by former judge Gauri Bahadur Karki, which was formed to find out the truth about the Genji movement. The Karki Commission had recommended an investigation and prosecution against the then Prime Minister Oli, the then Home Minister Lekhak, and the then Inspector General of Nepal Police Chandrakuber Khapung, saying that people died during the Genji movement due to negligence and negligence. Similarly, a criminal investigation has been recommended against the then Home Secretary Gokarna Mani Duwadi, Armed Inspector General Raju Aryal, the then Chief of the National Investigation Department Hutraj Thapa, and the then CDO of Kathmandu Chhabilal Rijal for negligence.
The cabinet meeting held on Friday decided to form a task force to study the recommendations of the Karki Commission report related to security personnel and to implement the rest immediately. After that, the police issued the necessary arrest warrants and arrested Oli and the writer on Saturday morning.
If the court does not uphold the necessary arrest warrants issued by the police today, both Oli and the writer will be released immediately tomorrow. However, even if they are released, the investigation against them will not stop. If the court approves the petition, the public prosecutor will then seek a remand period for Oli and the writer for further investigation. Kathmandu District Public Prosecutor's Office Chief Ramhari Kafle told Kantipur, "Both Oli and the writer will be detained for further investigation."
Under the prevailing law, the public prosecutor can detain Oli and the writer for up to 25 days for investigation. After obtaining permission from the court, the police will detain Oli and the writer for questioning and recording statements. The court may not extend the remand period. In such a case, the police will have to release them. However, the investigation will not be stopped.
The court will not initially extend the maximum remand period at once. The public prosecutor and the police also do not initially request 25 days from the court at once. If the investigation is not completed within the initially extended period, the court must again request an additional remand period. At these stages, the court may decide to continue extending the remand period or not to grant an additional remand period. Or the police can release Oli and the writer themselves so that they appear when called at any time.
Even if the police do not release them on bail and the court continuously extends the time limit, they cannot be detained for more than 25 days. However, if the investigation is not completed even after keeping them in custody for 25 days, the police can release them and continue the investigation. The police will not be under any time pressure to register a case within 25 days.
At every stage of the extension, Oli and the writer's lawyers will be able to question the justification of the extension in court. The police have said that they have investigated the murder case against them based on evidence such as the Karki Commission report, the decision of the Council of Ministers to implement it, the complaint filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs itself, the postmortem report of the deceased, the incident report, CCTV footage, etc.
That evidence will form the basis for the police and the government to keep Oli and the writer in custody and investigate. However, their lawyers may argue that the Karki Commission report itself is not evidence, that Oli and Lekhak did not appear to have reached the scene of the incident or given instructions, and that the order to open fire was not given by a decision or other means from a cabinet meeting.
Khamma Bahadur Khati, who became Attorney General when Sher Bahadur Deuba was Prime Minister under the leadership of the Nepali Congress, and who was in legal consultation with Lekhak this morning before he was arrested, said, “The report is only a recommendation. It is not evidence. Until the investigation establishes at the individual level what negligence and negligence they (Oli and Lekhak) committed, they cannot be arrested and a case registered.”
Whether or not they are detained in this way, after the investigation is completed, the police submit a report with their opinion to the District Attorney’s Office, giving them the basis for filing a case. After receiving such a report or during the investigation itself, the Attorney General’s Office can give instructions to the police regarding investigation and evidence collection. The police must comply with such instructions.
After receiving the report with such an opinion, the government prosecutor's office decides whether or not to prosecute, and if so, under which section, for which offense, and how much punishment to demand. If the decision is not to prosecute, it must be sent to the Attorney General's Office via the High Government Prosecutor's Office for approval. Either of the two bodies can also return the file with instructions to prosecute without approval - in that case, the District Government Prosecutor's Office must prosecute the case in the district court. If the decision not to prosecute is approved, the case will be concluded there.
When deciding to prosecute, the District Government Prosecutor's Office is free to decide for which offense and how much punishment to demand. However, the Karki Commission has recommended an investigation as per Sections 181 and 182 of the Criminal Code. The said sections stipulate that it is not permissible to kill someone through negligent or negligent acts. Doing so will result in imprisonment for 3 to 10 years and a fine of 30,000 to 100,000 rupees.
